Strength of the Uzumaki
by Baku97
Summary: Naruto, saddened by his inability to bring back Sasuke is consoled by Tsunade and finds new determination after discovering who his mother is. Naruto will now strive to follow the path of the Uzumaki, in order to fulfil his lifetime goal of becoming Hokage
1. Chapter 1

Yo i recently made some changes to this chapter and while re-reading some of the earlier ones i realised they're a bit tough to get through! However, give the story a chance it improves and i got big things in mind.

Hope you enjoy.

* * *

The sky was painted a sullen grey, and the rain poured down upon the earth. The wind howled and the trees swayed fiercely. A figure lay on the bank by the water, clothes torn, body battered and bruised, a large wound on its torso seeping blood. Tired eyes stared up at the dull sky, uncaring of the feel of the rain against them. In the background, across from the water, a shadow stumbled its way into the forestry, clutching its side. The figure by the bank finally began losing its battle with unconsciousness.

" _I can't die here_ " It thought, " _I'm an Uzumaki…",_ before sleep made its claim. The last thing the figure heard, was the soft sound of approaching footsteps.

Naruto awoke with a start and blinked at his surroundings.

" _White. Everything's white."_ He thought to himself, before mentally groaning. White only meant one thing. The hospital. God how he hated the hospital. It reminded him of too many forcefully forgotten memories of darker times. Looking down at himself he saw most of his body was covered in bandages. His brow scrunched in thought, seemingly trying to remember just what could have caused him such injuries. _"Ah… Sasuke"_ And suddenly it all came flooding back to him. Hearing the news that Sasuke had run away, Tsunade baa-chan giving him the mission, his promise to Sakura and the fight with Sasuke.

His face etched itself into a frown upon the realisation that he hadn't been able to fulfil his promise. Some ninja he was. Couldn't even follow his own nindo that he assigned himself. It was all quite ironic he concluded, chuckling humourlessly to himself, as soon as he had finally started to make progress in earning his friendship with both Sasuke and Sakura, everything fucked up. Sasuke had tried to kill him in search for power, and Sakura would most likely hate him not being able to bring the latter back. He was back to square one. His thoughts were interrupted however as the door to his room opened.

"Ah brat! Was wondering when you were gonna wake up!" Naruto looked up to see one of the most recent people who happen to make their way onto his list of precious people, Tsunade of the Sannin.

"Yeah nice to see you too Granny." Naruto mumbled, not particularly in the mood for banter. Tsunade frowned, wondering why the normally load and hyper Naruto was being so quiet and withdrawn.

"What's eating you?" Tsunade questioned, concern riddling her face. Naruto opened his mouth to speak before closing it and looking down at his hands, mumbling something.

"What's that? I didn't hear you speak up!" The slug sannin remarked, irritation quickly bubbling within her.

"I said, why's it always so hard?!" Naruto near shouted. Surprise overcame the sannin as she comprehended his words.

"What do mean brat, what's hard?" She asked in a soft tone, adopting a grandmotherly voice.

"Life. Everything. Why is it always me that seems to come out of these things the loser? All I do is try to earn people's respect and show them that I'm not some demon, some brain dead prankster or the deadlast. I give everything I have for those around me! And what do I get… nothing." At this point tears began making their way down Naruto's face, as Tsunade's surprise morphed to sadness and sympathy, "I mean, even when I protected the village against Gaara when Sasuke couldn't and Sakura was injured, no one even thanked me. I didn't even get the credit! Sakura thanked Sasuke immediately after she woke up and refused to believe I could have done such a thing. Shit, the whole village didn't believe I did it, except the ones that saw me."

Tsunade inwardly frowned, rubbing Naruto's shoulder for support, thinking what she could say to make her adoptive grandson act himself again. A soft smile crept its way across her face.

"You know," She began, drawing Naruto's attention from his hands on his lap to look into his eyes, "Your Kaa-san would be crazy proud of you." Naruto's gasped at the mention of his mother, all previous thoughts forgotten, "She always was always headstrong. Believed in action over words. Much like you in that respect. In fact you two are so alike personality wise it's almost scary. She had the same fiendish love ramen that you have too." Tsunade joked, earning a soft laugh from Naruto. She smiled at finally having rid him of some the pain.

"Y-you knew my kaa-chan?" Naruto questioned in a shaky voice, the word felt foreign rolling of his tongue, yet nice at the same time. The sannin simply nodded in response.

"Yes," she replied, "Her name was Kushina Uzumaki. She was beautiful. She had long fiery red hair, fair skin and a mean temper so great she was nicknamed for it, the 'red hot-blooded habanero' if I recall correctly." Tsunade said, giggling to herself. Naruto sat back in his bed, a small smile on his face. Thinking about his newly discovered kaa-chan, "She loved you lots too," Naruto's attention was once again snapped back to the medic, "I remember when she was pregnant. All she would do was talk about the things she would teach you, how she would dress you, and what a great ninja you'd be. I'd never seen her that happy before. She loved you so much that she gave her life to protect you during the kyuubi attack." Tears resurfaced as Naruto again began crying, but he didn't mind showing this weakness. Very rarely in Naruto's lifetime had he shed tears of joy.

"Actually," Tsunade pondered, adopting a thinking pose, "Now that I think about it, it's not so unruly that you call me your Baa-chan." Naruto gazed at her quizzically with slightly red and puffy eyes prompting her to continue, "Well, my grandmother was called Mito Uzumaki, and I'm pretty sure Mito baa-sama was Kushina's great Aunt, so I guess that makes me your great Auntie or something like that." She concluded nonchalantly.

"What? So does that mean… "Naruto began before trailing off.

"Yeah, I guess I've got some family left in this world after all, and you've got some you never knew you had." Before she could blink a blond blur crashed into her. Soft sounds were heard as she looked down at the bandaged jinchuriki. She wrapped her arms gently around his injured body and rested her chin against his head. A single tear rolling down her cheek.

"Now now Naruto-kun, there's no need for that," She whispered gently. Naruto withdrew slightly before meeting her gaze, "That's no way a future Hokage should act. After all, you are going to be the one who takes the hat from me, and I can't be waiting forever." The sannin joked earning a wide grin from Naruto.

"You bet baa-chan! I'll be sat in that chair before you know it!" He exclaimed, through a wet and snotty smile. The slug sannin laughed kindly, earning Naruto's smile to widen, stretching his whiskered cheeks.

"I'm sure you will gaki," She smiled, drawing the blond back into her embrace, "I'm sure you will."

Unknown to the two blonds, a figure stood by the window in the door smiled to themselves, before walking away. Not wanting to interrupt the tender moment between two reunited family members.

Naruto couldn't remember the last time he'd been so happy. Maybe when he became genin? Nah that still didn't compare to this. He just found out who his kaa-chan was! After Tsunade and his moment together, she had gone on to inform him that Naruto's kaa-chan had come to Konoha from Uzushiogakure and was a member of the Uzumaki clan. That last bit of information had made Naruto's happiness double. Not only had he had a kaa-chan who loved him, but also belonged to a powerful clan. The only downer on the whole thing was that his clan had all but died out, the few members that may be alive spread across the five great nations. Also, the sannin refused to tell Naruto who his otou-chan was, said something like 'he was very strong and made many enemies during the war, it wouldn't be safe if word got out'. Yeah, like he hadn't heard that before.

Naruto was currently on his way to the Hokage tower thinking of his time in the hospital. He had been surprised to find that many people came to visit. Kakashi was the first to visit, however all he really did after his icha icha book. Next, the whole of team 8 came along, Kiba having just got out of hospital himself. Shikamaru and Ino had also visited along with their sensei Asuma, Chouji still being bedridden didn't come. More surprisingly however, was Sakura who came to visit. Naruto smiled at the memory

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

 _A knock on the door drew Naruto's attention away from the window he had been gazing through._

" _Come in" He said. The door opened slowly and Naruto's eyes widened at the sight of pink hair, "Sakura… chan?" He questioned amiably. Sakura however, didn't respond. Instead she walked right up next to the bed, head lowered hiding her eyes._

" _Sakura I'm sorry," Naruto began, his head lowered, "I failed to bring Sasuke back… You must hate me now." He said in a solemn tone. Sakura didn't respond adding to Naruto's worry. He opened his mouth to speak again however was interrupted when a fist met his head followed by a loud shout of 'BAKA'._

" _OW, Sakura what the hell I'm injured here!" Naruto protested angrily, but the only response he received was a bone-crushing hug from his childhood crush, causing his cheeks to redden slightly._

" _You baka" Sakura retorted quietly, "I know I asked you to bring back Sasuke but I didn't want you to nearly get yourself killed doing so!" Naruto's eyes widened dramatically upon hearing those words. "I don't care that you weren't able to bring him back. It's okay Naruto… kun" She withdrew from their embrace and gazed at that the starry eyed Naruto, unshed tears forming in her eyes, "I heard from Tsunade-sama what Sasuke and the sound 4 did to you and the others. How you were all so nearly killed… A-and I just want to say I'm sorry." Tears now began rolling down her cheeks, "At first when I heard that you hadn't been able to bring him back I was so angry, angry that you'd lost Sasuke. But after hearing about how he acted, and how far you went only to get so badly injured I couldn't stay angry. I'm sorry Naruto-kun." She finished before drawing him into another hug, "I'm so sorry"_

" _Sakura-chan" Naruto said, earning no response from the weeping kunoichi, "Sakura-chan." He repeated, a little more assertively, still earning no response, "SAKURA" He near shouted, holding her out by the shoulders at arm's length. He looked her over and smiled sadly, seeing the obvious pain this was causing her. "I said I would bring Sasuke back, no I promised I'd bring him back. So I will. I don't know how long it'll take. But I'll get strong to drag that duck-butt haired emo back to Konoha screaming if I have to, whether he likes it or not… Whether he's our friend or foe. And that's a promise of a lifetime." He finished with a determined stare. Sakura laughed slightly._

" _Hai Naruto-kun, I suppose it is," she smiled kindly, before hitting him over the head again._

" _Ow Sakura-chan why're you hitting me now!" Naruto whined, clutching his head._

" _You really must be a dobe if you think I'm gonna let you go after Sasuke alone after all that's happened. Naruto, I swear to you that I'll share the burden of bringing Sasuke back. And that's_ _ **my**_ _promise of a lifetime" She concluded, fire burning in her eyes causing Naruto to smile. A small, true smile._

" _Hai Sakura-chan, I suppose it is."_

* * *

 _ **Flashback End**_

Sakura had gone on to inform Naruto that Tsunade baa-chan was going to take her in as an apprentice to learn medical ninjutsu along with Shizune.

Naruto, blinked at the realisation that he'd already reached the Hokage's office.

' _Jeez I didn't even realise I'd entered the tower…_ ' He thought, before shrugging and pushing open the grand doors to the room.

"Mornin', baa-chan!" Naruto greeted, a large grin plastered on his face. The sannin, who was sat at her desk looked up smiling fondly.

"Ah, Naruto-kun just the person I wanted to see" She said in a grandmotherly tone. Ever since their 'encounter' at the hospital, the medic didn't mind Naruto calling her 'baa-chan' as much, in fact she liked it. It reminded her that she wasn't alone anymore. Not that she'd tell anyone that though.

"So baa-chan, watcha got for me?" Tsunade made an 'Ah' noise before shuffling the through the draws in her desk in search for something.

"Ah-ha! Here they are!" She exclaimed, before slamming three scrolls onto the table, one with the kanji for ken, the other for fuin and the last for chakra, all with the Uzumaki swirl on them.

"What are these baa-chan?" Naruto questioned, gazing at the scrolls, brows furrowed.

"These gaki are scrolls containing Uzumaki techniques. In fact these three styles of techniques are pretty much what made the Uzumaki so feared during their time." She informed the young blond, smiling at his intrigue.

"What techniques are they!?" Naruto interrogated further, his excitement akin to a child in a candy shop. Tsunade laughed at his enthusiasm.

"The first contains instructions for Uzumaki style kenjustu, there are three different styles that you can choose from I believe. Only one however will suit you. The Uzumaki's were always one to embrace diversity, such is demonstrated in their variety of techniques." Naruto stared on wide eyed earning another giggle from the great medic, "This next scroll contains Uzumaki fuinjustu or sealing techniques. Sealing is the main reason that made the Uzumaki so powerful as they had an uncanny way of integrating seals into offensive and defensive combat techniques," Tsunade paused to glance up in Naruto's direction to gaze his reaction only to sweatdrop at the sight of his blatant confusion. Choosing to ignore it and let a certain perverted hermit explain later she continues, "And this final scroll contains information regarding a form of chakra manipulation, specific to the Uzumaki." Now this immediately peaked Naruto's interest.

"What, like a bloodline baa-chan?" Naruto excitedly questioned.

"Hmm sort of," the sannin answered, "Don't get your hopes up though. Even amongst the Uzumaki this form of manipulation was very rare. Although, your Kaa-san _was_ able to do it, so who knows. Maybe you'll get lucky?" She finished, smiling cheerily at Naruto's frown, which was soon disregarded and replaced with a wide grin.

"That doesn't matter baa-chan I've still got all the other stuff to learn" Naruto consoled loudly.

"Haha I suppose that's true Naruto-kun, but remember you still have a lot of other tricks and techniques to learn outside of these Uzumaki ones, try not to get tunnel-vision eh?" Tsunade reprimanded gently.

"Hai baa-chan, but I'm still gonna learn every technique in these scrolls and become the strongest Uzumaki there ever was and rebuild my clan!" Naruto declared with gusto, earning a raised eyebrow and a smirk from his grandmother figure.

"Is that so Naruto-kun, and whatever happened to becoming the greatest Hokage of all time?" She questioned jokingly.

"That'll come right after I've become strong enough using these techniques to protect everyone in the village!" He quipped not missing a beat, "Yosh, I better get to it!" Naruto exclaimed before rushing forward and sweeping up the scrolls and rushing to the door. Turning around he grinned at the blond Hokage.

"Don't get too comfy in that chair baa-chan, cause I'll be kicking you out of it before you can say great-grandkids" He joked causing Tsunade to blush and splutter at her fantasies of little great-grandkids to spoil being caught out. "See ya later baa-chan!" Naruto said as he exited the office, bringing the sannin out of her thoughts. As she stared at the door a soft smile graced her face and she spun in her chair to gaze out over the village.

"That kid…" She laughed to herself, "He's going places, and I'll be there every step of the way."

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Yo thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed.

Please, review fave or follow if you feel like it, all ciricisms and reccomendations welcome (within reason)

Ciao.


	2. Chapter 2

Yo, this chapter has also been edited slightly, i mainly just removed some of the japanese, honestly im not sure what i was thinking using it - a slightly strange and offensive review pointed out that i used too much, i must admit i used a bit, but, what the hell - also said my english was bad also... which is worrying since its my first language.

Oh well, enjoy the chapter!

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As Naruto walked through the streets of Konoha, he noticed a slight change in the looks sent his way. While the majority still glared, a few (mostly shinobi) offered appreciative nods his way. Although a small difference, it added to Naruto's high spirits. Naruto was currently on his way to the village gates. After he'd received the jutsu scrolls from Tsunade he'd bumped into Jiraiya who told him they'd be going on a training trip which had elated the young blond to no end, however he'd also found out that he'd be gone for three years. That bit of information hadn't exactly thrilled him, but considering the amount of training he needed to do, he decided it was acceptable.

Turning the corner, Naruto's eyebrows shot up at the sight of the large gathering of people waiting at the gates. There was the whole of team 8 and 10, Sakura and Kakashi-sensei were also there. Tsunade and Shizune stood closest to the gate, the latter looking slightly disgruntled at having to ward off a pervy looking Jiraiya. Team-Gai had also turned up and stood slightly apart from the rest of the group, a tired looking Tenten standing guard between an excitable Lee and a bored Neji. As Naruto got closer, the group's attention was drawn towards the young blond.

"Mornin' everyone!" Naruto shouted happily.

"Ugh Naruto, you're too loud for this time of morning." Shikamaru drawled in a bored tone, followed by a 'troublesome blond comment' upon getting an angry cry from Naruto, earning him a knock on the head from Ino. The jinchuriki weaved his way through the crowd and approached the two Sannin and Shizune.

"Yo Ero-sannin, Baa-chan, Shizune nee-chan!" Naruto greeted, ignoring the throbbing veins that appeared on both the Sannin's foreheads and grinning at the small smile on Shizune's face.

"Bloody brat…" The toad sage mumbled to himself, "Anyways, you ready to go?" He questioned.

"Yep got everything I need right here!" Naruto exclaimed, his thumb pointing to his backpack.

"Probably filled with cup ramen…" A certain Nara commented from behind, earning a chorus of laughs much to the young blond's displeasure.

"Moving on," Tsunade began, clearing her throat, "You two should probably get going." She said, a slight waver in her voice.

"Hai!" Naruto responded, in an excited tone but with the same waver his adoptive grandmother had. One by one, each member of the Konoha 12 minus Sasuke came up to bid Naruto the best of luck. Team 10 had offered Naruto a small travelling pack of assorted foods, courteous of Choji. Team 8's goodbye and abruptly short, Kiba having done the majority of the talking and an extortionately shy Hinata handing over a small container of healing ointment, to which Naruto was grateful for and praised her causing the young Hyuuga to pass out. Team Gai's parting words had also been short, Tenten and Neji having to drag Lee away as his shouts of youth became a slight bit overbearing. Kakashi put away his book to wish Naruto farewell and gave a few words of wisdom, something along the lines 'treasure your time training with the world's most amazing author' to which Naruto sweatdropped and then laughed, embarrassed. Next Sakura approached Naruto slowly, her head lowered.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto questioned. She proceeded to walk towards the young blond before embracing him gently.

"Be careful Naruto-kun," She whispered, before withdrawing and giving him a death glare, "And I swear to Kami if you come back a pervert I'll personally castrate you." Sakura threatened menacingly, causing shivers to run up the spins of every male present, and a subsequent sweatdrop from Jiraiya.

" _She's just like Tsunade…"_ He thought to himself worriedly.

"Right brat, we should be off." Jiyaiya stated, after shaking himself from his thoughts and beginning down the path out of Konoha.

"Hai, hai" Naruto replied, before following the sage.

"Naruto-kun!" Naruto spun on his heels to find a teary Tsunade with a small, kind smile on her face. She walked up to him and bent over at the waist so she could speak to him at eye level causing the young blond blush as she unknowingly gave him a prime view of her cleavage.

"W-what's up baa-chan?" He stuttered, earning a knowing grin from Jiraiya.

"You stay safe you hear me Naruto, and you better come back strong too," She smirked, "Can't have the future Hokage being a weakling, can we?" Tsunade joked. Naruto smiled at the running joke between them. Naruto's expression turned to shock however as the medic leaned down further and kissed him on the forehead. "Now run along Naruto-kun, I'll see you in 3 years." She said, standing up straight and walking back to the crowd, ignoring the shocked (and some jealous) faces of the other ninja.

"Y-yosh, see ya" Naruto said having cleared his mind, waving to the group before running off to catch up with the old sage. "This is gonna be the best training trip ever!" He cheered to himself merrily. Oh how he was in for a shock…

* * *

 **6 Months Later**

"This training trip sucks." A very unhappy Naruto grumbled as he walked through the dark streets of a small village near wave country. To say Naruto was unimpressed with his new sensei thus far would be an understatement. All they'd done since leaving Konoha was make their way from village to village, Jiraiya assigning Naruto chakra control exercises to do while he went off whoring.

 _"Bloody Ero-sannin"_ Naruto thought to himself despondently. The only consolation to the whole thing was that he had the Jutsu scrolls Tsunade had given him, but without proper instruction he hadn't gotten far. Plus he didn't even have a sword to practice the kenjutsu with. Looking up, Naruto noticed a small ramen stand. Smiling at his discovery he strutted over the little restaurant. _"Trust ramen to save the day_ " He thought to himself merrily.

"Oi Ossan, give me 2 large misos." Naruto exclaimed as he moved under the flap.

"Yosh, coming right up" the stand owner replied turning around briefly to flash Naruto a grin. Naruto paused momentarily, eyeing the man cautiously, he looked suspiciously like Teuchi ojisan... Naruto was brought out of his thoughts as two people sat down at the other end of the stand.

"Did you hear about that fisherman the other day?" The first man questioned, he had a mop of brown hair and a rugged face.

"No? What the hell you on about?" The second asked, he too had messy brown hair however his was cut shorter and he had a younger, slimmer face.

"Well I heard he was out on a trip and got too close to those whirlpools surrounding the old Uzushiogakure ruins" the man began, leaning closer.

"Ooooh that's never a good thing" the other declared dramatically, throwing his head back.

"Yep, just goes to show. Reelin' in a good catch ain't worth your life" the first stated followed by a sage like nod from the second man. Meanwhile Naruto's mind was working at a mile a minute. He was near his ancestral home! He HAD an ancestral home! He knew that he clan had been all but wiped out but he'd never thought of their origins, their old home.

Buzzing with excitement, Naruto vacuumed up the rest of his ramen and payed the stand owner before shooting of to find ero-sannin to tell him of his discovery before stopping mid sprint. _"Even if I do find the old perv he'll probably be with some girls and tell me to get lost... And he might not even want to go out to some ruins because there won't be any girls out there."_ Naruto mentally considered conclusively, "Bah! Screw him, I'll go without him!" Naruto declared out loud earning odd glances from people passing by. "Alright, first things first, where the hell is Uzushiogakure?" The young jinchuriki questioned to himself. "I know, I'll go ask those guys at the stand!" He cried out loud before dashing off back to the stand.

Upon reaching the small restaurant, Naruto was relieved to find the men still sitting eating their ramen.

"Oi ossans" Naruto shouted, causing the two men to swivel on their seats.

"Watcha want gaki, we're eating here." The older of the two answered, the younger nodding in agreement.

"Do you guys know where Uzushiogakure is?" the young blond questioned loudly.

"Yeah," The older of the two again responded, "What's it to you huh?"

"Yeah what's it to you?" The younger one echoed earning an annoyed glance from his elder.

"I wanna go there!" Naruto exclaimed, causing the two men to pause and look at each other briefly before bursting out laughing.

"Ha ha… you wanna aaah go to Uzu? Oh man, that's the funniest thing I've heard in ages" The older one laughed, ignoring the disgruntled expression on Naruto's face.

"Oi what's so funny you bastards!" The jinchuriki shouted indignantly, breaking the two grown men out of their laughter.

"That place is a death trap kid, not only are the ruins rigged with traps, but the surrounding waters are home to numerous whirlpools." The older one stated, the younger nodding along.

"What so there's no way to get there?" Naruto questioned, his faced scrunched in confusion.

"Well not necessarily," The man began, "There is a way, but it's a hard route to navigate." He explained.

"Hn, very hard." The younger of the two repeated, nodding to himself, earning another glare from the older.

"Why anyway? What's got you so worked up about Uzushiogakure?" The older man asked, giving Naruto a curious glance, to which Naruto mumbled something incomprehensible, "What's that gaki?" He asked, a frown etched upon his face.

"My families from there! It's my ancestral home!" Naruto shouted, shocking both the men.

"What? You mean…" The elder began.

"Yeah I'm an Uzumaki, what of it!" the blond screamed, both men's surprise was evident on their faces.

"For real?" The eldest questioned shock still written all over faces, earning a fierce nod from Naruto, determination evident in his eyes. Slowly however, a grin crept onto the face of the older man before a soft chuckling emanated from his throat.

"Well I'll be damned, a real honest to god Uzumaki." He giggled, the younger man still looking on in confusion, "Hmm well you know what brat, how bout I take you to the old Uzu ruins then?" The man's smile widen upon seeing Naruto's expression.

"What? You mean it?" Naruto stammered, he couldn't believe his ears.

"Yep! And since I suppose you'll be travelling with us I guess introductions are in order!" The elder exclaimed dramatically, before thumbing his chest, "I'm Taro and this here is my younger brother Tari." He said gesturing to the younger of the two.

"Nice to meet you! The name's Naruto Uzumaki, the next Hokage of Konoha!" The young blond greeted enthusiastically.

* * *

 **2 Days Later – waters outside wave country.**

"So are you guys sure you know where you're going?" A very sceptical Naruto questioned. The trio had set sail the day after meeting one another. Apparently the two brothers were fishermen and owner a small company that had been in their family for generations. Taro, the oldest had told Naruto that back before the Uzumaki clan had been exterminated, Taro and Tari's family had been in the slumps but the Uzumaki's had gone to them asking to help set up a fish trade business as the majority of the fish in the area lived on the wave countries side of the whirlpools surrounding Uzu, therefore the clan had little resources, so the Uzumaki's gave them a client to help re-establish their business and the Uzumaki's gained a source of fish, hence Taro and Tari's eagerness to help young Naruto.

"Yeah yeah don't worry about it, we'll be there soon enough" Taro responded casually.

"Yep nothin' to worry about." Tari copied, garnering a curious glance from Naruto and yet another glare from Taro.

"Well anyway it still's weird. I mean I haven't even seen a single whirlpool!" Naruto said, obviously agitated by the time it was taking to get there.

"Well of course you haven't, why would anyone sail near or into whirlpool's? That's the dumbest thing I ever heard!" Taro quipped.

"Well how the hell are we getting there then? Isn't Uzushiogakure meant to be surrounded by whirlpools?" Naruto asked exasperated.

"Why we're goin' round the back of course." The older fisherman stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Upon seeing Naruto's remarkably confused features he expanded, "Not many know this but there's actually a slim part of the sea which isn't filled by whirlpools, that's how people travel to and from Uzu. While the whirlpools are a great defence from intruders, it's just impractical to have them surround the whole of the land. In fact I'm pretty sure our family are the only ones to know about it." While Naruto wasn't entirely convinced of this whirlpool-less pathway, he accepted the answer and went back to sulking about the ship they were sailing on before sitting down in his quarters and slipping into a dreamless sleep.

A few hours later and Naruto was abruptly brought out of his rest by the shouts of the two brothers. Rising sleepily, he made his way out onto the deck.

"Looks like you finally woke up!" Taro greeted merrily, "Just in time too, we're about to arrive." He said before moving off to steer the ship. Speechless, Naruto gazed into horizon and gasped at the sight of the approaching land. The first thing he noticed was the trees. While used to growing up around trees having been born in Konoha, Naruto had never seen any like this. They stood taller than any tree Naruto had ever seen. In fact the forest itself wasn't like any forest Naruto had ever seen. It was more like a jungle or a rainforest.

As they got closer to the island, Naruto's excitement only grew. He was so close to seeing his ancestral home. Where his kaa-chan was born. Sensing the young blond's excitement the eldest of the two brothers came over and placed a strong hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Listen brat, I know you're excited and all, and I get how you feel, but just don't get your hopes up okay" He said in a solemn tone.

"What do ya mean ossan?" Naruto asked.

"Well the village was left in ruins after the second great ninja war. So I'm pretty sure there's not much left there. Sorry kiddo." He replied sympathetically.

"Oh…" Was Naruto's only response. While he knew there wouldn't be much left he was still hoping for something nonetheless.

Upon reaching the island, Naruto hopped off the boat and stared wide eyed at the size of the forestry, craning his head to try and get a look at the top of the trees.

"Alright Gaki, me and Tari will wait here while you go ahead, the ruins should be located in the centre of the island so just keep going straight from this point and you should reach them." Tori shouted from aboard the ship.

"What!?" the young blond replied, "You mean you guys aren't coming with me?" Naruto shouted back.

"No" both brother's said in unison before causing Naruto to sweatdrop before Taro explained, "Uzushiogakure was a ninja village you see, no doubt they would have laid countless traps that us civilians wouldn't be able to avoid, it would be a certain death trap for us to go wondering in there."

"Oh right" Naruto said to himself, "suppose that's true…" he then turned to face the forest and began walking forward.

"We'll see you later kid! Stay safe!" The eldest brother exclaimed, echoed by Tari. Naruto didn't respond but instead simply raised his hand and waved slightly as a parting gesture before dashing off into the trees.

* * *

Hours later and to put it simply, Naruto was lost. He didn't know quite how long it was supposed to take him to reach the centre of the island, however he was pretty sure it shouldn't have taken him this long. _"Not that Taro's directions were any help_ " He thought to himself irritably. Naruto however, never one to give up, kept on travelling through the large forest. As time passed, the sky which was barely visible through the trees began to darken, and just as the young Uzumaki was about to call it the quits, at least for the day that is, the forestry suddenly gave way to a vast clearing. Naruto gasped at the sight before him. Basked in the soft orange glow of the sunset, a whole village of ruins lay in front of the blond, while obviously ruins, the structures still stood proudly exhibiting their past prosperity.

Naruto hopped down from the tree he was standing on and walked towards the vast maze of rumble and ruined buildings. In the distance, the wreck of a particularly large building stood, towering over the rest. Seeming like a good place to start his exploration, the jinchuriki took off towards the building. Having heeded Taro's warning of possible traps, Naruto entered the structure with caution. The building itself was barren of pretty much anything salvageable, all the furniture lay in pieces and bits of broken ninja tools lay scattered across the floor. Nonetheless, he continued further into the building.

After exploring countless numbers of empty rooms Naruto came across a set of great wooden double doors, which despite the ruins around them seemed to be in relatively good condition. With a large shove, the young blond pushed the double doors open revealing a large room which reminded him of the Hokage's office back in Konoha. Naruto's eyes ran over the bookcases that lined the walls, slightly annoyed at the fact that they only seemed to contain history books and no jutsu scrolls. At the back of the room stood a sturdy wooden desk, Naruto rushed over to it and began searching through the drawers in hope of finding something worthwhile. To be honest, the Uzumaki didn't quite know what he was looking for, if he was even looking for anything in particular that is. Part of him however secretly hoped he'd come across a family heirloom or something which would connect him with his clan. But after seeing the state that the village was left in, his hopes were dwindling.

After rummaging through the majority of the draws he found no success, sighing to himself he sat down in the large swivelling chair, which somehow seemed in remarkable condition considering its surroundings. Looking down, he noticed a small box placed under the wooden desk. Reaching down, he picked it up carefully, eyeing the spiral engraved upon the lid. Opening it hesitantly, a small smile crept its way across his face as he saw the contents of the box. There, sat in a bed of velvet, was a perfectly maintained Uzushiogakure forehead protector attached to a jet black headband. Taking it out of the box his smile grew more content as he traced the spiral engraved on the metal, having found something to connect him with his clan. After a moments of consideration. Naruto used his mouth and his left hand to tie the forehead protector onto his right arm over his bicep, displaying his connection with Uzu with pride (A/N like how shikamaru wears his). Staring down at his now decorated arm, he sighed contentedly before spinning himself around in a slow, drawling pace, before a piece of parchment on the wall behind the desk caught his eye. _"Why didn't I notice that before?"_ He wondered to himself. Standing up to get a better look at the text, he read it out loud.

"When the strength of the whirling tides has fallen, only the blood of an Uzumaki may rekindle the fire that lights the path of the whirlpool…" Naruto finished, his face scrunched in thought, pondering on the words written before him. _"I don't get it"_ He thought _, "What's the path of the whirlpool_?" Shrugging to himself, he reached up and took the parchment from the wall before rolling it up and place it in one his larger pockets. Looking up he was shocked to find a seal painted on the wall where the parchment had previously been. Looking into his pocket as if considering the text and then back at the seal on the wall, the young blond remembered something the old ero-sannin had said about some seals that could only be released using blood.

"Ah fuck it," He said shrugging once more, "Not like I've got anything to lose." The young Uzumaki reasoned before grabbing a kunai out of his weapons pouch and opening a small cut on his thumb and smearing the blood over the seal. Seconds later and nothing happened. "Oh well it was a long shot anyway" Naruto sighed, turning around to leave. As he reached the door however, the room was covered in a bright blue light as the seal shone. Spinning on his heel, Naruto stared wide eyed as the seal expanded in complex sequences of kanji covering the entire wall. As the whole wall was engulfed by the fuinjustu, the room started shaking and very slowly, the wall began to rise giving away to another chamber. After a few tense moments, Naruto realised he had been holding his breath. Quickly exhaling, he stepped towards the new room cautiously. Upon reaching the boundary where the wall had risen, the young jinchuriki gasped at the sight of the chamber. It was more like a corridor than anything really. Its walls were lined with statues of people both men and women dressed in traditional Uzumaki battle armour. Each figure had a name engraved onto the base of its stand. Walking down into the chamber Naruto couldn't help but be amazed at the level of detail carved into each statue. It was if they were each alive, eyes boring into him.

At the end of the corridor stood the largest of the statues. The figure was different from the rest of the other statues, not only in his attire but also his facial features. It wore plain robes instead of armour and had a plain head band tied around his head covering his forehead up two his eyebrows. His hair, unlike the others whose hair was mostly long and tied into ponytails, was cut short and spiked up at the top in random directions. Two bangs fell through the head band tied by hairbands at either side of his face. His face was fixed in a stern gaze, which if Naruto was observant, he probably would have realised to be a warning, as if he was guarding the chamber. In front of the statue was a podium, on top of which stood a regal looking Katana, its sheath a simple black with 3 red tomoes at the base of the sheath near the hand guard. The handle was black but with small red diamonds running up the length of it on both sides and a small red tassel hanging from the end. The hand guard was red and circular, designed in the shape of the spiral. Underneath the blade, Naruto noticed writing was engraved onto the stone podium.

"Here lies the sword of Asura Otsutsuki. Only those of direct decent may wield this blade with strength of the whirling tides." Naruto read aloud. " _Again with the strength of the whirling tides"_ He thought to himself, _"And who the hell is Asura Otsutsuki? He's not even an Uzumaki"_ The young blond questioned mentally. After moments of careful consideration, Naruto decided that since Tsunade baa-chan had said he was an Uzumaki, he must have been of direct decent, whatever that meant, and since he'd come this far, he might has well take the sword. Reaching out with both hands, the young Uzumaki grasped the blade by the sheath and lifted it up off the stand it was perched upon. Seconds went by and nothing happened. Naruto let out a sigh of relief having not tripped some crazy elaborate trap. _"Phew, thought I was gonna have to run for it then"_ He thought, chuckling to himself.

As the young blond turned to leave however the room was once again bathed in the blue glow of a seal activating. Spinning on his heel, Naruto turned to see the great statue of what was presumably the Otsutsuki guy covered in a complex seal with a large spiral in the middle. Slowly, as if becoming unfrozen, the stone that made up the statue began to chip away revealing another layer beneath. Naruto gazed on in awe as bit by bit the stone veneer crumbled away only to reveal a life-like model of the man portrayed in the statue.

"W-what the hell is that" Naruto stuttered, taking a few steps back. To his surprise however a voice answered him back.

"Not 'what' child, 'who'" The voice answered, the deep sound resonating throughout the chamber. Now Naruto was really freaking out. _"Where the hell did that voice come from"_ He thought frantically.

"Up here, child." The voice once again boomed, its tone stern but not aggressive, if anything it had a kind ring to it. Naruto looked up in the direction of the voice and was surprised to find the statue behind the sword staring down at him. He opened his mouth to speak however nothing came out as he again took steps back away from the statue.

"Worry not young one, I'm not here to hurt you. If I was you'd most likely already be dead." The figure consoled, however it did little to ease Naruto's nerves.

"W-what do you mean I'd already be dead" The young jinchuriki stammered, his fear having eased slightly.

"I was placed here as a countermeasure, to ensure that no one unworthy could ever wield the sword in your hands. However, I am also here to greet those who have reclaimed the blade." It explained, before staring at Naruto inquisitively, "In fact, how did you know you were of direct decent child. While you are obviously of my blood, the line is long and clouded. How did you know you are my decedent?" It questioned. Naruto, momentarily snapped out of his fear, took a moment to rub the back of his head and chuckle embarrassingly.

"Haaa, yeah I kind of… didn't?" He said through a foxy smile, noticing the slight falter in the statues facial expression which could be akin to something like a sweatdrop. Coughing, the figure regained his composure.

"Well anyway," It began, "My name is Asura Otsutsuki, son of Hagoromo Otsutsuki, sage of the six paths and heir to his teachings" the figure introduced proudly.

"Never heard of you." Naruto said simply, causing the statues face to falter more visibly this time.

"I suppose that's irrelevant, "It said, coughing once again, "I am the sole ancestor of the Senju and Uzumaki clans. Through the generations, my will and chakra has been passed on to the one most worthy. The last before you was a certain Senju, Hashirama if I recall correctly." He stated definitively.

"The Shodai?" Naruto questioned to himself in wonder. It was all a little much for him to comprehend. He was related to the Shodai? Or they had the same chakra? "Wait Asura oji-san, what does any of this mean?" He asked, ignoring the fact that the figure's eyebrow twitched upon hearing his term of address.

"It means, young one, that your path will be long and will contain many hardships that you must face, you are not gifted with natural talent, much like myself, therefore must work hard to attain strength to protect those closest to you. It also means your fate is intertwined with that of another, who carries the will and chakra of my brother, Indra." He answered. Naruto didn't know why, but as soon as Asura mentioned the descendent of Indra, his mind immediately conjured images of Sasuke. "Go now child and become strong. Wield that sword with pride in the name of all those who have wielded it before you, and keep your will strong, it's all us geniuses of hard work have, after all." Asura advised in a sage-like tone.

"You bet Asura oji-san, I'll become stronger than even you!" Naruto declared, earning the small curt laugh from the old sage. Suddenly the seal once again flashed of the figure of Asura as stone began creeping its way up his body covering it. Looking on with a content smile, Naruto waited until the figure was completely encased in stone, before turning and walking back down through the long chamber. What he failed to notice however, was the small grin that now graced the newly re-formed statues features.

* * *

Yo thanks for reading, press all those buttons at the bottom or top if you wanna follow somethign i dunno.

Ciao.


	3. Chapter 3

Yo! Here's the third chapter. On an unrelated note for some reason i can't seem to view all the reviews i've got, it's only showing me the first 4 and i'm not quite sure why but thanks you anyway for the reviews!

* * *

After Naruto's encounter with the re-animating statue in Uzushiogakure, he had decided to stay the night and sleep under the stars of his ancestral home. The next day, wakened by the sunrise, Naruto set back off to meet back up with Taro and Tari. They hadn't been too hard to find as all Naruto needed to do was find the coast and then follow it till he came across them. Taro and Tari had noticed Naruto's new gear including the forehead protector now tied to his arm and the new sword but decided not to question him as whatever happened must have been personal.

Now, 1 week later, Naruto was sat legs crossed in the forests surrounding the small village that he'd met the two brothers, intent on training his kenjutsu. Having not so much as even glanced at the scrolls beforehand he had no idea what to expect. From what he could tell so far there were three different style, just like Tsunade baa-chan had said. Looking over the first style, he read the description aloud.

"Shinku no dansu (the crimson dance)" He read, "Used most typically by female Uzumaki members, this style takes advantage of the female body's natural flexibility and smaller frame to manoeuvre around the target, using mostly jabs and quick slashes utilising speed and skill over strength and power to slowly wear the victim down, before inflicting the fatal strike. As suggested by the name, the style involves the fluid and coherent combination of attacks mixed with complex footwork to get within the opponent's guard, thus placing great emphasis on body positioning and placement in battle over more sword based skills such as parrying. Since the style is movement based, it is more defence orientated as a lot of the style revolves around avoiding the target's strikes and waiting for the correct moment to attack. This style is also recommended for any assassination or stealth based kenjutsu users regardless of their sex." Naruto finished before looking off into the forestry adopting a thinking pose.

"While the style does sound cool," He thought out loud, "I don't think I have the skill or flexibility to pull it off… Ah well! What's next?" The young blond questioned to himself before continuing. "Alright, style two 'Shinku no ikari' (the crimson wrath)," He began, chuckling to himself _"hehe cool name"_ He thought before continuing, "This second style revolves around the users strength and power, being the antithesis of 'Shinku no dansu'. The style involves the user blitzing opponents with series of sweeping slashes and lunges to overwhelm their target. The style is primarily offensive aiming to swarm the victim until a breach in their defence is found which they would then capitalise on. Since the style is heavily biased for offence, the user must leave their defence open but compensates for this due to their constant attacking. Each strike is packed with power and intent to kill, if the user enters the battle without the resolve to kill or do serious harm then the attacks will become affectless… wow." Naruto eyes scanned back over the words he had just read. While the style sounded cool and in many ways fitted his attributes, it didn't fit his mentality. While Naruto had in many ways hardened is resolve to kill, to go into every battle with the intent to end that person's life… That just wasn't him. It wasn't what he stood for or what he believed in.

Unfurling the scroll further, Naruto glanced at the last style, "Shinkoshoku no soyokaze… (The crimson breeze)" He breathed, before reading on, "This series of techniques combines attributes needed to utilise both 'shinku no dansu' and 'shinku no ikari', therefore making it the hardest of the three to learn. Furthermore the style is traditionally only used by the main line of Uzumakis hence learnt by all previous clan heads and heirs. The style primarily relies on drawing techniques of two variations: standard grip and reverse grip, and hence forth seeks to finish the battle in one move. However unlike 'shinku no ikari', the end result does not have to be fatal. If the initial move doesn't end the fight, users will utilise their speed in short bursts combined with controlled power strikes in and out of the opponents defence in order to breakdown the target, differentiating from its more violent variant style in that the attacks aren't continuous. The style also isn't ideal for attacking when hidden as requires ample room and a direct line in order to complete the drawing techniques." Naruto finished, his mind buzzing as he considered the written words. However all thoughts seemed to come to one conclusion. The style was awesome. While yes, seemingly hard to learn it had everything. Considering some of the negatives however he realized he would have to increase his speed dramatically as well as his control over his chakra and strength.

Weighing up the pros and cons, Naruto concluded that the style was worth it and that despite the difficulty, he would learn it. Sighing the young Uzumaki fell back onto the ground with the kenjutsu scroll resting on his stomach. Looking up he realized how late it had gotten as the sky was already streaked with that warm orange glow of the sunset he loved so much. Closing his eyes, he smiled at thought of all the future training he was going to be doing and unconsciously reached out, grasping the katana that lay by his side and held it to his chest. Inhaling slowly then exhaling, he embraced the smells and sounds of the forest, letting the tranquil atmosphere overcome him, as he slipped into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

Naruto was slowly woken from his sleep by the morning sunrays that crept through the forest treeline, and fell on his resting face. Oh and that loud brash shouting didn't help either.

"For fucks sake kid wake up!" The voice continued, Naruto groaned in protest before groggily opening his eyes.

"Alright alright jeez i'm up!" The blond mumbled, looking up, he saw the blurred outline of a tall man with a great mane of white hair, "Huh ero-sannin? What are you doin' here?"

"Wha-What do you mean 'what am I doing here' you little punk!? I'm supposed to be training you!" The old sage retorted.

"Yeah _supposed_ to be…" The blond muttered under his breath, not catching the fury build in his sensei's face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He ground out.

"Isn't it obvious!?" He began, shouting now, "All that you've done since we've been on this trip is do your 'research' which is just an excuse for to be a perv, or whoring while I'm left to do pointless exercises! I could have learnt more than I have by now if I'd stayed in Konoha!" Now breathing heavily, Naruto stared defiantly into Jiraiya's eyes. The sage met Naruto's gaze however after a few moments gave up and sighed, lowering his head.

"Jeez kid, you're gonna be the death of me," He said before looking up back at Naruto, "So what do you want huh?" He asked.

"To be trained," Naruto started, but continued when he saw Jiraiya open his mouth, "On my own terms. I want to make a schedule so that over the three years I improve my fuinjutsu, kenjutsu, speed and chakra control mainly, while also working on my chakra chains, well if I actually have them that is… Oh yeah and increasing my jutsu range, all I know is kage bunshin which I taught myself, the summoning jutsu and the rasengan plus the academy jutsu! How the hell am I supposed to survive with just them! I'm a joke!"

"Alright I get it gaki, damn I need drink…" The toad sage huffed before eyeing Naruto's new sword suspiciously, "Oi kid, where'd you get that katana anyways? You didn't steal it did you?" He said, eyes narrowing.

"What? No? I found it, it's mine." Naruto said, clutching the sword to his chest defensively.

"You found it…" Jiraiya repeated, earning a nod from Naruto, "Where on earth did you find a sword like that?"

"Uzu." He answered simply causing the older man to stare back at the young blond dumbly.

"Uzu." The sage echoed.

"Yep"

"As in Uzushiogakure?"

"Hn"

…

"WHAT! YOU WENT TO UZU BY YOURSELF! A-A-AND FOUND _THAT_ " the sage shouted in shock pointing accusingly sword.

"Yeah" Naruto replied casually, using his little finger to pick at his ear absentmindedly.

"How?" Jiyaiya asked after a pregnant pause.

"Ma it's a long story, I'll tell you after ramen!" He replied simply before strolling into the forest towards the village, leaving a dumbstruck sage in his wake.

* * *

"Damn Naruto, that's one hell of a story." Jiraiya said as Naruto finished telling his tale, before taking a slow sip of his sake, "I'm still surprised you found something there though, I went there a loooonnggg time ago and didn't find a single thing."

"Yeah" Naruto said, pausing from indulging in his ramen, "I'm just glad I found something to connect me with my clan" Sighing, he glanced down at his newly decorated arm, a small smile gracing his features.

Jiraiya watched on with a grin of his own, "Alright gaki, let's get this schedule drawn up aye?" he said, immediately drawing the young boy's attention, pulling out a blank scroll, a calligraphy brush and ink, "So, you wanted to work on kenjutsu, fuinjutsu, ninjutsu, control and possibly your chakra chains… Hmm well I think you're also gonna have to work a little on genjutsu, not so much the jutsu themselves but more how to detect and release them," Ignoring Naruto's sour face at the mention of his worst topic, the old sage continued, "I'm gonna have you work a little with the toads as well so you know which ones to summon in the right situations." Mumbling to himself, the old man then began scrawling on the scroll.

After a few moments of furious writing, Jiraiya stopped before looking over his work before nodding to himself appreciatively, "Okay so the first year, I reckon we'll start with the nitty gritty stuff. The first year we'll cover control and conditioning, that includes speed and strength, I'll also assign you some ninjutsu to learn throughout the year so you don't get too restless… now that I think about it I might add in some strategizing as well." He said, mumbling the last part while working over the scroll with his brush.

"Wait hold up ero-sannin! You mean that for the whole first year, presuming the three years start from now, I'm not going to learn anything Uzumaki related!?" Naruto protested angrily, "I said I wanted to learn train on my own terms, and I wanna learn the Uzumaki stuff first!" He demanded. Naruto's anger however was quickly turned to shock when Jiraiya's hand slammed upon the counter of the ramen stand shocking the owner also.

"Listen here you little punk, I may have agreed to train you in the areas you wanted but let's not forget who the sannin here is! What you may not have realized or what that scroll on kenjutsu didn't quite get through your thick skull is that you can't just learn techniques left and right!" The sage began before throwing his arms up in exasperation, "I mean shit, do you really think it's that easy? Take kenjutsu; Samurai and most nin have to go through vigorous conditioning of both body and mind, doing countless exercises to perfectly tune themselves to the way of the sword before they've even picked one up!" Upon seeing Naruto's face contort into one of protest he quickly continued, "What, do you think you'd just be able to do some speed and strength work while you train your katas? Without laying down the foundation attributes necessary to effectively train in the style? If you do that the configuration between your strength and speed and your sword play will be out of sync! You'd have to keep adapting one or the other, making needless work for yourself." He finished, panting slightly. Noticing the downcast expression on the young blond's face Jiraiya adopted a softer tone, "Listen gaki, I know you want to follow the footsteps of the Uzumaki and your dream of becoming Hokage, and that's great but these things take time you know, you have to work at it step by step. There's no shortcut to becoming Hokage after all, your words not mine." The sage said with a smile.

Naruto looked up at the old sage, unshed tears saddening his eyes and a small smile playing across his lips, "Thanks… ero-jiji" he chuckled softly, "I guess I was being a bit of a brat huh?"

"You can say that again," Jiraiya laughed, "Anyway let's find somewhere to stay the night, and tomorrow we'll start your training!" He announced before getting up off the stool he was perched upon and walking off. Naruto stood to follow before he was interrupted by a stern and angry looking ramen stand owner, holding out his hand expectantly making Naruto blink in confusion.

"Shit."

* * *

 **8 months later**

"Oi ero-sensei! Can I get down yet?" A rather tired Naruto shouted in a strained voice, looking up briefly the man in question eyed the blond before returning to his notes.

"Nah you still got a bit to go" Naruto was currently hanging from a large tree branch using the tree climbing exercise to stick to the bark, he had his arms spread out and hanging off each by the forearm were boulders tied by rope. Jiraiya had picked the exercise up whilst observing a clan of samurai in the Land of Iron.

When Naruto had first began using it the boulders had been small and at first didn't seem to strain the blond however since it was an endurance exercise they still after a while took their toll on his body nonetheless. Currently the boulders being used were about the size of a cow, and the blond had been hanging for at least a couple of hours now. So far in his training however Naruto had made quite a bit of progress. His control over his chakra had increased dramatically however was still relatively low. His strength had also increased and his control over that was coming along nicely. Due to his body work he'd and his natural aging he'd managed to bulk up slightly and while remaining lean rather than bulky was no longer scrawny, another bonus to his conditioning was that he'd grown a bit taller and now stood at 5'1" as opposed to his 4'8" stature upon leaving the leaf.

"Gaki you can probably come down now" Jiraiya suddenly spoke, eliciting a sigh of relief from the Uzumaki before he hopped dropped the boulders cause a plume of dust to rise up and dropped down.

"Aahhhh it's never felt so good to be so light!" Naruto exclaimed happily before sitting himself down next to his sensei, "Ne ero-sensei, do you ever write anything other than smut?"

The old man grunted in response, "It's not smut you brat its graphic romance!"

"Yeah that's just a fancy way of saying smut," the blond retorted before eyeing the notes critically, "I don't get why your books are so loved anyways, they're not even that good." He commented offhandedly.

"Pfft, like you'd know anything kid this is fine literature!"

"Yeah yeah up there with Shakespeare…" Naruto responded sarcastically, _"wait who is that?"_ He questioned internally before shrugging to himself, "At any rate, I'm gonna go wash up, I'll be back for dinner!" He said ignoring the old sage's mumbling, walking off to a nearby lake.

Currently, the duo were in the Land of Waterfalls, near the border of the Land of Earth. Since the country was full of lakes and rivers it was ideal for chakra control and conditioning exercises. They'd been camping in the same clearing for about 1 week now having travelled back though the Land of Fire from the Wave at a leisurely pace as Jiraiya had contacts from his spy network that needed attending to.

Approaching the lake Naruto took to the trees having regained some of his strength. A few minutes later he arrived at the clearing however stopped and paused on a branch, hidden slightly, at the sight of a person in the clearing. " _Cute"_ was the one thought that ran through the young teen's mind as he drank in the girl's image, a slight red tinge glazing his cheeks. She had dark pink, pupil-less eyes and short jet black hair that shaped her face, wearing a red under amour which ended mid-thigh, with the right sleeve missing and the right loose. Over her right side she also had a sash of sorts or half dress 'thing' that was in a slightly darker shade of red that Naruto couldn't quite see the point of. Over the body suit she wore a brown flak jacket and mesh stockings adorned her legs. Looking on more analytically, Naruto noticed she was unmistakably a kunoichi, and could see a head band hidden behind her fringe however the village symbol was obscured.

After mentally disciplining himself for momentarily giving into the force of the perv, he realized the young kunoichi was breathing heavily and seemed to be physically strained. Slowly she sat down by the water's edge, wincing as she met the hard ground before clutching her leg in pain, as she did so Naruto spotted tares in her stockings and an angry bruised that seemed to be forming on her left thigh. Before he could even consider going down to help her out however, a swoosh of air drew his attention to the tree line at the opposite side of the clearing as multiple kunai flew towards the injured kunoichi. The girl managed to roll backwards out of the way into a crouch as the weapons implanted themselves into the ground where she was once sitting.

Shortly after one light and one dark coloured blur shot out of the treeline landing in the clearing. The taller of the two had a mop of spiked messy brown hair, dark coloured eyes and wore a yellow shirt with a blue tie under a white trench coat with high a high collar and had a nasty smirk on his face. The smaller of the two was… uninteresting to say the least. He was bald with nothing special about his facial features other than his scowl, he also wore a plain black suit with a white shirt and black tie. _"Hmm where've I seen those two before…?"_ Naruto thought to himself, squinting his eyes at the pair.

"Now now kurotsuchi-chan, we can't have you running away now can we?" The taller of the two announced, "After all you were the one the attacked me and my friends in the first place." His face twisting into a predatory grin.

"Fuck you Gantetsu you pig!" The kunoichi now identified as Kurotsuchi shouted back venomously. Silently Naruto created a dozen kage bunshin and ordered them to surround the clearing from the treeline. One of the other traits he picked up in his short time so far was patience, he didn't always charge in head first now. Well not always anyway.

"Ara ara such a foul mouth for such a pretty little girl." Gantetsu smirked, seemingly amused earning a dark giggle from his plain partner.

"What should we do with her boss? She's obviously injured." He commented.

"Hmm, good question Choseki. What _should_ we do with her?" Gantetsu questioned rhetorically, before running his eyes over her form, "Well I have few ideas in mind." Meanwhile, Kurotsuchi shakily made her way to her feet while glaring heatedly at the rouge pair.

"You fuckers ain't gonna do shit!" She shouted defiantly, however her physical state contradicted her words which wasn't missed by the on looking blond.

"Ma enough talk. Choseki," He began, his face becoming stern, a feral glint remaining in his eyes, before turning to his accomplice, "Deal with her." Upon hearing the command, the bald man jumped into action approaching the pink-eyed kunoichi at speed. Bringing his arm back he began the fight by throwing a straight punch which kurotsuchi dodged with relative ease however her pain was evident on her face.

The bald nin followed with a series of kicks and punches which were avoided however with each successive attack, the girl's evasive movements become more and more sluggish. It was clear that she was the better ninja, maybe even than both of them however her injuries were impairing her tremendously.

Choseki suddenly hopped back and ran through some hand seals, "Doton: Doryūsō (Earth release: earth flow spears)!" He shouted before a single spear made of mud and pieces of rock shot out of the ground aiming at Kurotsuchi's head. Thinking quickly, the teen bent back at the waist demonstrating her flexibility, however her leg gave way and she collapsed back before rolling backwards finding her feet. Taking advantage of her opponents sudden weakness, Choseki rushed forwards and aimed a straight kick to the girl's injured leg connecting painfully. With a contained scream of pain, Kurotsuchi stumbled back hold her leg, putting most her weight onto her healthy one.

Grinning at his success, the bald nin brandished a kunai before moving in to finish the job, the young kunoichi looked up only to snap her eyes shut at the sight of the kunai coming down upon her as she waited for her impending death. A few moments passed and no pain came. Slowly, she opened her eyes only to come see the pain riddled face of Choseki, kunai in hand ready to strike, before a gurgling sound emanated from his throat as he choked out blood which dribbled down his chin. The nin then fell to his knees and subsequently collapsed face first onto the turf. It was then that Kurotsuchi noticed the kunai embedded into the man's back, surrounded by a large red patch.

"W-what!? Who's there you bastard!?" A suddenly agitated Gantetsu shouted out into the surrounding treeline as he palmed a kunai and held it in front of him defensively. No response was heard and soft breeze whistled through the clearing, rustling the grass, "You don't scare me you bastard! I'm the Densetsu no Annin (legendary dark shinobi)!"

Meanwhile, Kurotsuchi sighed in relief and tried to stand up straighter before a wave of pain ignited her left side, causing her to stumble forward. Before she fell completely however a pair of strong arms caught her, causing the pink-eyed teen's eyes to widen comically.

"You shouldn't move too much, that leg looks quite bad." A throaty voice said softly.

Looking up, the first thing she noticed were two bright cerulean eyes which seemed to shine with good will. Momentarily lost, she examined the rest of the figure's face to noticing two sets of three whiskers on each cheek resting upon tanned skin, she then noticed the unruly blond locks which seemed to spike each and every way. Unable to help herself, a soft blush graced her face as he stared at the face of her saviour, "Hellooo, you okay?" Naruto waved his hand in front of her face jokingly.

"Huh? Oh yeah, it's just my leg's pretty messed up." Kurotsuchi managed, shaking herself out of her daze. Behind the two however, Gantetsu decided to take advantage of their 'moment' and lunged at the unassuming blond with deadly intent. As the blade came down, it was suddenly blocked by the kunai of two separate figures. Gantetsu's face twisted into one of shock as he gazed at the two identical forms that blocked his attack, before noticing they were also identical to the blond currently coddling his prey. Growling the man jumped back still holding the kunai in front of himself.

Naruto, the real Naruto, on the other hand simply sighed, "If you'll excuse me, I've got some trash to take care of." He said politely, gently placing the stunned kunoichi on the ground before slowly turning to face the snarling Gantetsu, and walking in between his two clones a stern expression on his face, "I'll give you one chance," He began, noticing the man's confused expression he continued, "I'll give you one chance to run, take it and you'll be spared. Otherwise… you won't be so lucky."

A pause followed as another breeze rustled through the clearing. Slowly however, the sound of soft chuckling began break the silence, which then turned into full blown laughter.

"You, you think you can beat _me_ kid?" Gantetsu managed through his fits of laughter, "Ah that's the best thing I've heard in a while…" He said as his laughter died down as his face turned serious before twisting into a manic grin, "Do you even know who I am!? I'm the mighty Densetsu no Annin! A little brat like you doesn't even stand a chance!" More crazed laughter ensued as the man palmed another kunai.

"Enough talk," Naruto interjected coolly, "You've had your chance" He then clicked his fingers with one hand. Gantetsu opened his mouth to make a smart comment however was interrupted as a barrage of kunai flew towards him from all angles. Cursing under his breath he jumped backwards deflecting what kunai he could from the front however was unable to prevent a few from grazing his legs and arms. He then turned to look back at the blond only to find him standing with his hands held out by his side with the palms facing upwards and the two clones surrounding him constructing some form of glowing orbs? His attention was suddenly drawn from the teen as a dozen clones or so jumped out of the treeline surrounding the clearing and engaged him.

Momentarily overwhelmed by the sudden mass of clones, Gantetsu took numerous slashes and cuts to his arms and torso as he tried frantically to defend himself. One by one, he managed to dispel the clones until there were only three left. Eyeing the clones cautiously, he took a few tentative steps backwards already planning his escape. The three clones then rushed forwards towards him, criss-crossing their paths in order to confuse the rouge nin. Suddenly the three duplicates, threw their kunai at Gantetsu before jumping off to the side, his attention focused on deflecting the Kunai, he didn't notice the original blond sprinting towards him, a blue spiralling ball in each hand. When he did notice however, it was too late. The first sphere of chakra crashed into his stomach, grinding into his skin, before the second slammed into his chest sending the missing nin flying backwards into the path of a large tree which cracked under the impact.

Turning around, Naruto dispelled his remaining clones before walking slowly back to the prone kunoichi, who stared on wide-eyed. _"What a destructive jutsu… he took that guy out without even breaking a sweat!"_ She thought to herself. As the blond approached her Kurotsuchi couldn't help but notice how the blond's eyes weren't that vibrant blue she'd seen earlier but a dull blue, void of life.

"Oi are you okay?" She called out hesitantly, causing Naruto to meet her gaze. Realizing he'd let his façade slip and lost his composure he silently cursed before sighing and scratching his head embarrassed.

"Yeah I guess. I'm just not sure I've got my head around this killing thing yet. It's not… nice." He said lamely, looking at the ground ashamed.

"Well of course it isn't nice we're ninja. Life's not always full of happy endings you know?" She commented sarcastically. Noticing the forlorn look on her saviour's face however she adopted a softer tone, "But, if it's any consolation… you did you know save my life n' stuff." She struggled with the words as if not used to giving praise; Naruto accepted it all the same, giving her a small grin.

"I suppose I did." Kurotsuchi, now looking at the blond's full appearance noticed he was roughly the same height as her although looked a year or so younger. He wore a plain black shirt which had three-quarter length sleeves showing off the long-sleeved mesh under underneath it and plain black trousers. A necklace hung loosely around his neck showing off an expensive looking stone which she had never seen anything like before. All in all she thought the blond standing before her was quite the looker, in his own slightly weird, exotically roguish way.

"Who are you anyways?" She asked after a moment of eyeing up the blond.

"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. And you?" He replied with a bright smile, his eyes relighting with that shine she had seen earlier.

"Huh? Oh um Kurotsuchi,"

"You sure?" Naruto joked, eyebrow quirked.

"Yeah I'm sure you punk kid." She quipped in mock anger.

"Kid! You're barely older than me!"

"Yeah well you're still a kid"

"A kid who just saved your ass"

"Pfft, if I wasn't injured could've dealt with those guys no problem."

"Yeah sure that's what they all say."

"Oh? You go around spying on people's own affairs often then?" Instead of replying Naruto simply huffed and sat himself on the ground opposite the girl before looking over her leg.

"So what did those guys what with you anyways?" He asked after a moment, noticing Kurotsuchi flinch slightly.

"Well, back in Iwa they are, or _were_ missing nin you see and I _might've_ pestered my jiji for a solo mission involving their capture…" She admitted before sighing, "What I didn't expect was for them to have a whole group of bandits following them. By the time I'd fought off all them I'd already used a lot of chakra and then _this_ happened," She gestured to her injured leg, "and so I decided to flee and well here I am."

"Who's your jiji?" Naruto questioned curiously.

"The Tsuchikage."

"What!?" Kurotuschi immediately regretted telling the blond. They all acted the same after they found out. Boot licking bastards, "My baa-chan would never give me a mission as cool as that!"

"Huh?" Kurotsuchi managed, stupefied by Naruto's response.

"Yeah she would always go on about how I'm 'not ready' or just call me a brat or something." He grumbled childishly.

"Who's your baa-chan?" Kurotsuchi asked tentatively however something told her she already knew the answer.

"The Hokage."

"WHAT" that wasn't the answer she was expecting, she was thinking more along the lines of a stuck up noble or an overly protective grandmother. Not only that the kid was related to a Kage! The Hokage no less!

Kurotsuchi was immediately on the defensive as she stared at the blond with fierce eyes and tensed her muscles.

"What? What's the mean glare for" He asked innocently.

"You're from Konoha."

"Yeah…"

"And I'm from Iwa"

"Okay…"

...

...

...

"No response? Really?"

"I don't understand? Was I supposed to say something?" Naruto scratched his head, confusion evident on his face.

"You're form Konoha and I'm from Iwa! You should hate me, and I you!" Naruto tilted his head to the side.

"I don't hate you Kurotsuchi-chan, I don't even know you." He replied simply earning a growl from the pink eyed kunoichi _"Yet you're adding '-chan' to my name"_ She thought in frustration. Glaring into his innocent, puppy-dog face, Kurotsuchi sighed as she decided it wasn't worth getting agitated over. Leaning back onto her hands she gazed up into the sky before closing her eyes and enjoying the silence. Until she felt a pair of calloused hands touch her thigh that is. Opening one eye she stared down at the blond who seemed to be trying to apply a bandage to her leg.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked with a certain _edge_ to her voice.

"Errr first aid?" Naruto replied innocently, "I'm not too good with medic stuff but I know the basics. If you don't want me to then I won't but that wound's pretty bad." With the concern evident in his tone. Unable to help a subtle blush adorn her cheeks, Kurotsuchi huffed and looked off to the side.

"Fine, just get on with it."

"Hai!" Naruto then enthusiastically began bandaging the wound on the teen's thigh, Kurotsuchi took this opportunity to study his face and watched in awe at the concentration the boy was exhibiting, "There! All done!" He exclaimed exuberantly.

Kurotsuchi looked over his work with an analytical eye, "Hmm not bad," She admitted, before lowering her head, her face scrunching up as if struggling with her thoughts, before mumbling something incoherent.

"What? I didn't catch that?" Naruto asked.

"I said 'thanks'" She said a little louder, "For everything. Not everyone would have done what you did, especially not most Konoha nin." Naruto smiled at her honesty before shrugging.

"Well I guess I'm not like most people then." Kurotsuchi laughed softly.

"I guess you're not…" She said before looking up at the sky and realizing it was getting dark, "Anyways I should be going now. I'm supposed to be meeting up with backup soon." Carefully, and under the watchful eye of Naruto, she rose from her sitting position and tested out her injured leg. Deeming it okay to walk on she stood straight, with most the pressure on her right leg.

"You sure you're okay getting back?" Naruto asked concerned.

"Yeah I'll be fine," She said, turning and hobbling towards the forest-line before stopping and facing the young blond, "Thanks again Naruto, I mean it" She then continued towards the forest.

"Ne, Kurotsuchi-chan!" Naruto called after her as she reached the treeline causing her to turn slightly, "You think… You think we could meet again sometime? Like tomorrow maybe? Same place?" He asked hesitantly, causing the girl to pause and look at him. After a few moments, she smirked slightly before nodding her head in the briefest of fashion and walking into the forestry. Naruto grinned in response. He'd made a new friend. Lying on his back he closed his eyes and thought of all the times that lay ahead, smiling at the thought.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to favourite and follow and review and stuff... If you want to that is...


	4. Chapter 4

Helloooo.

Just like to say thanks to all you people who have followed, favourtited and reviewed this fic, it means a lot!

Here's chapter 4, hope you enjoy!

* * *

It had been a week since Naruto had his fateful encounter with Kurotsuchi. Since then, they'd met up at the same lake they'd first met each other every day at sunset. Naruto smiled fondly at the memories of their time together, which mostly involved him talked animatedly about his training with ero-sannin (which she'd been surprised to find out was actually Jiraiya of the sannin) and his pranks. He'd discovered Kurotsuchi was quite calm and laid back and didn't scold him so much if he did or said anything stupid, unlike Sakura, except one time. Only one time so far had he experienced her temper. They'd been sparring in the clearing, taijutsu only, and let's just say Naruto used a submission move which ended with them being in a very comprising position, with Naruto's hands, unintentionally, upon certain… 'assets'. Needless to say Naruto didn't want to experience her wrath again, it put Sakura's to shame.

Naruto was currently sat in the middle of the same clearing by the lake waiting for the kunoichi, his clothing slightly scuffed as he'd just come from another days work of conditioning training with ero-sensei which was gruelling to say the least.

"boo" a feminine voice whispered in Naruto's ear causing him to jump in the air and consequently let out a small, feminine squeal, a scared expression planted on his face. His shocked demeanour dropped however when he saw the face of the now laughing Kurotsuchi.

"Ahah that's the best thing…" She bent over clutching her sides laughing harder, causing Naruto's annoyance to grow, "I can't *wheeze* speak *wheeze*… you actually squealed!" She now had tears forming in her eyes.

"Alright I get it, you got me, great. Good for you!" Naruto muttered in irritation, however he couldn't help but let a small smile tug at his lips. That was another thing he liked about Kurotsuchi, she had a sense of humour, which included pranks.

"Oh my…" she said, wiping the tears from her eyes now standing up straight, "I haven't laughed that much in a while"

"Glad I could help." Naruto mumbled sarcastically.

"Now now whiskers-chan don't get stroppy, just cause I beat you at your own game."

"I'm not stroppy!" He retorted, followed by a pregnant pause, "Oi and don't call me that… bakatsuchi!" Naruto joked now laughing at the new nickname he'd assigned the girl, causing a small blush to form across her cheeks as she stared in shock at the blond. No one had ever insulted her name before.

"Wh-what don't call me that you gaki!"

"Ma, it's just a nickname, no need to get so angry… bakatsuchi"

"Y-yeah well two can play at that game er… temeruto!"

…

…

"That was awful, you know that right?"

"Yeah…" the kunoichi sighed, before shaking herself out of her slump and looking down at the blond, "Anyway Naruto there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it Kurotsuchi-chan?" Naruto said, his brow furrowed as he stood up to face the girl.

"Well you see my injuries are pretty much all healed up so me and my team are set to move out." She said averting her eyes.

"Oh… when do you leave?"

"Well, kinda around about now… "

"What? You're leaving now?" Naruto asked tilting his head in confusion, _"god he looks cute when he does that puppy dog thing"_ Kurotsuchi thought to herself suddenly, managing to contain her blush.

"Yeah, I just told my team that I needed to bathe quickly then we'd leave."

"So you… "Naruto started before trailing off.

"Yeah. I came to say goodbye." Kurotsuchi confirmed with a small smile.

"Alright well I guess I'll see you around then Kurotsuchi-chan." Naruto said, a soft smile playing across his face.

"Yeah… don't forget to right to me though!" She replied jokingly.

"Huh? How am I supposed to do that, it would be pretty shady if a Konoha and an Iwa nin were exchanging letters."

Kurotsuchi shrugged, "I dunno, use your toads or something, your sensei would probably tell you how."

"That's a good idea Kurotsuchi-chan! I'll definitely send you some letters!" The blond replied enthusiastically, placing both hands behind his head, a wide grin on his face.

"Oh and one last thing," Kurotsuchi said, walking towards the teen until they were almost face to face, the girl craning her head to look up at the jinchuriki.

"Huh what is it Kurotsuchi-chan?" He managed, blushing slightly at their proximity. The kunoichi didn't reply however instead, reaching up with one hand she gently stroked his whiskered cheek before getting up on her tip-toes and placing a soft, lingering kiss on his lips.

"I'll see you around, don't go getting soft on me now, Naruto-kun." She said, before winking, a teasing grin gracing her features and turning around, walking towards the forestry, a seductive sway added to her hips which Naruto couldn't help but be entranced by.

Before long, Naruto was left standing alone in the clearing, a blush still dusting his cheeks. That had been his first kiss. Well, not counting the accidental kiss with the Sasuke-teme.

"Ahh young love… I've never been so proud of my dear little apprentice," Naruto was stunned out of his daze as he turned to face Jiraiya, weeping comical tears of joy.

"You saw that?" Naruto asked, his voice strangely monotone.

"Why of course! It was golden stuff gaki!" The sage shouted passionately before gazing off into the distance with stars in his eyes, "Ah I can just see it now… Two lovers from opposing villages, captured by a forbidden love…" He said melodramatically.

"ERO-JIJI!" Naruto raged.

"Oops…"

* * *

3 months later

"Alright gaki we're coming to the last month of you first years' worth of training so it's time to mix things up a little bit." Jiraiya said as they sat down in a clearing, in which a small stream ran through.

"Yosh, ero-sensei, what're we gonna be doing?" Naruto questioned excitedly.

"For the next month we're gonna see if you have those chakra chains that your mother and some of the Uzumakis had." He answered while searching through his travelling pack.

"Yes! This is gonna be so cool! I'm definitely gonna rock these chains!" The young blond exclaimed, ecstatic at the prospect of finally learning some Uzumaki techniques.

"Hmm don't get you hopes too high though kid, we don't even know if you've can do this yet… Now where did I put… Ah here it is." The sage mumbled to himself before pulling out a large scroll.

"Ne what's that ero-sensei?" Naruto asked, staring at the scroll inquisitively.

"This my boy, is how we're going to check whether you have the capability to pull of the level of chakra manipulation to create chakra chains." Jiraiya said, making Naruto go wide-eyed.

"wooww, how's it work huh sensei?"

"Alright gaki, all you gotta do is place both hands on the scroll here, channel some chakra and it should act as a catalyst causing the specialised chakra to appear." He said, before frowning placing one hand on his chin, "thing is though I'm not sure if this's gonna work since it's normally only used for kekkai genkais."

"Oh well, we might as well try it out." Naruto said rolling out the scroll, eliciting a shrug from the sage.

"Alright so how it should work is, if we're talking mokuton for example, if someone channelled their chakra into it plant life would grow, so for you chakra chains should appear?" The toad sage determined rhetorically. Nodding his head, Naruto placed both hands on the scroll and channelled chakra into it. Moments went by as nothing happened. Frowning, Naruto channelled more chakra into the scroll however still nothing happened.

"Ero-sensei! It's not working!" Naruto whined.

"Quit bitchin' gaki, you knew that there was a chance you wouldn't have the chains." Jiraiya replied sternly.

"I know… but still," the blond said dejectedly, "Guess I'll try again… just in case." He then, once again placed both his hands palms down upon the scroll.

Strengthening his resolve mentally, he pushed more chakra than he had done before causing a light blue glow to form around him. Suddenly, as if a dam bursting, Naruto felt a surge of chakra rush through him. Opening his eyes, his eyebrows shot up in wonder at the sight of dozens of dark orange chakra chains snaking their way through out the clearing, whipping about the air as if having lives on their own. Looking to the side with a wide grin on his face, he saw Jiraiya's stunned expression.

"Told you I'd rock it sensei." He remarked smugly, causing the sage to laugh heartily.

"You sure did kid, you sure did."

* * *

10 months later – Iron country

"Yo bro!" shouted a small toad as it popped into existence in a plume of smoke.

"Huh gamakichi? What's up?" Naruto questioned looking up from his notes. So far in his second year of training he'd made a lot of progress in kenjutsu, however in fuinjutsu he'd thrived going from a level 1 to 3 borderline 4 in just 9 months.

"I got some letter for you!" Gamakichi replied perkily, "and there all yours… as long as you give me candy." He finished causing Naruto to sigh dramatically, "common Naruto you know the deal; I'm your messenger and you give me candy."

"Fine fine here you go, now give me those letters" The boy conceded, handing the toad a small paper bag of sweets, "Who're they from?" He asked as the toad places the small bag into his messenger pack before rummaging for the letters.

"Um… you got one from Sakura, and one from the old lady." Gamakichi replied, smirking at the slight tinge of sadness that crept its way across Naruto's face, "Oh and one from your Iwa girl"

"What? From Kurotsuchi-chan?" The teen replied, perking up instantly.

"Yep!"

"Alright! Gimme gimme."

"Here you go. Summon me when you want some return, but don't forget the candy." The toad warned as it puffed out of sight, leaving Naruto to read the letters.

"Hmm I suppose I'll start with Sakura-chan's" he said to himself before opening the scroll.

" _Dear Naruto…"_

* * *

"Oi Ero-sensei!" Naruto called out, catching the attention of the man in question as he sat at on a bar stool in a bar enjoying some sake.

"What's up brat?" He said before, adopting a hissing whisper, "Can't you see I'm working on my game here?" He nodded his head over to the corner of the bar where two, incredibly attractive, girls sat. Naruto just rolled his eyes at the man's before, completely used to it by now.

"Baa-chan sent me this letter today and it had a scroll attached to it about a mission; she said you should have a look at it too." Naruto said, handing the sage the scroll.

"So Gamakichi delivered you a batch of letters today huh?" He asked the blond.

"Yeah…"

"Any from your Iwa girl?" The perv questioned with a lopsided grin and a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Just read the damn scroll." Naruto huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and looking off to the side. The tell-tale blush on his cheeks told wonders however.

Jiraiya grinned at the boy's actions before turning his gaze to the scroll in hand, "hmm let's see here…" he mumbled reading over the contents, "So looks like we got a group of missing-nin… lead by Shinga… taking captives from Tsukigakure… Looks like you've got a tricky one there kid." The sage said before handing Naruto back the scroll.

"What? You're not gonna help me?"

"Hmm nah, I think you can handle it."

"That Shinga guy's a jounin though isn't he?" Naruto asked, still sceptical.

"Yeah… it'll be a good test of your skills. Remember to read up on his abilities as well; you don't wanna go into the battle unprepared." The sage advised.

"Where even is Tsukigakure?" Naruto questioned, re-examining the scroll.

"Don't worry about that gaki, I'll taking you there. But you'll still have to do the mission by yourself."

"Cool! When do we leave sensei?"

"First thing in the morning. Now go get your shit together, it's a long way." Jiraiya said, prompting the blond to run back out of the bar with a shit-eating grin on his face allowing the old man to enjoy is sake… and the ladies.

* * *

"Alright kid this is where we part ways." Jiraiya said as he stopped on a tree branch near Tsukigakure.

"What? You're not coming in ero-sensei?" Naruto asked innocently.

"Nope! From here on you're on your own. Now the scroll states you're to meet the daughter of the leader of Tsukigakure at the Tsukikage tower, one Tsukino I believe, she'll brief you on the finer details."

"Hai!" Naruto shouted, saluting jokingly, "I'll see you later sensei!" He said before dashing off in the general direction of the hidden village.

"Dumb brat didn't even ask me where the bloody village is…" Jiraiya laughed to himself, shaking his head.

* * *

It was 3 hours later when Naruto finally arrived in Tsukigakure. Naruto had, inevitably, gotten lost causing a mere 30 minute walk to turn into the 180 minute trek. Walking through the village, Naruto realized it was a lot like Konoha however smaller, with regards to the atmosphere, and especially so since it was now 9pm and street lamps lit the streets, but people were still coming to and fro. What shocked the young jinchuriki the most however were the stares he was getting. Being the host for the Kyuubi, Naruto had become accustom to harsh glares and being treated as if he didn't exist but this was something else entirely. People were _smiling_! Smiling at _him_! They were smiling and waving at him and wishing him a good evening! He couldn't believe it! It was almost as if he'd fallen into a dream where he'd finally won the respect of the Konoha citizens and they'd learnt to love him. It was everything he'd ever dreamt of.

Returning the kind gestures with vigour, Naruto continued his way through the low-lit streets until he reached a large building, his mood heightened by the towns-folk dramatically. Noticing the crest of the moon carved onto the front of the structure, Naruto entered and walked into what seemed like a lobby.

"Um excuse me miss, my name's Naruto Uzumaki and I've been called here to speak with Tsukino-er-sama?" Naruto asked the receptionist at the lobby desk, remembering his honorifics, causing her to look up from her book.

"I take it you're the Ninja Konoha sent us?" She asked, eyeing Naruto from top to bottom.

"Hai"

"Hmm you sure?" She questioned the blond again sceptically.

"Yes why?"

"You don't look like much," She said bluntly causing Naruto to sigh and lower his head as an aura of gloom settled around him, "Ma whatever, you can go on up. Tsukino-sama was expecting you a while ago." After asking where she could be found and trudging off, Naruto followed the directions the receptionist gave him until he reached a set of large wooden double doors.

He knocked hesitantly on the door, not quite sure what to do, "Ano… hello? It's the ninja from Konohagakure!" The blond called just loud enough for the person on the other side to hear. The sound of someone mumbling to themselves and shuffling came from beyond the door before a soft voice called for him to enter. Naruto slowly opened the door and stepped inside the room, closing it behind him. He stole a quick glance around the room and noticed it simply looked like a smaller version of the Hokage's office, minus the view.

Drawing his eyes away from the interior design, Naruto met the gaze of the person behind the desk, only for his breath to catch in his throat. Sat behind the desk was one of the most beautiful women Naruto had ever seen, despite her only being a year or two older than him. She had long white hair tied up in a high ponytail using a clip shaped like two crescent moons, tanned skin slightly darker than his own, a pair of stunning emerald eyes and a yellow jewel on her forehead that reminded him of his baa-chan. She wore a light turquoise battle kimono with a black chest plate strapped over, two yellow crescent moons displayed on the front and an orange sash around her waist.

"Tsukino… sama?" Naruto managed, after regaining his composure.

"Er hai. You're the shinobi Konoha sent?" She questioned, not looking up from the paperwork on the desk.

"Hai, Uzumaki Naruto at your service." The blond replied enthusiastically causing the young heiress to look up at him.

"Excellent, um… oh yes! I need to brief you on your mission." She said, looking slightly flustered. Naruto could've sworn he saw the tiniest of blushes form across her tanned cheeks however it was gone almost as soon as it came.

The girl then began rummaging through the stacked paperwork piled up on her desk, inadvertently spilling pieces as she searched. On the outside, Naruto merely raised an eyebrow at the girl's behaviour, on the inside however he was giggling to himself " _hehe she looks cute all flustered like that._ "

"Ah here it is!" She exclaimed, holding up a piece of paperwork triumphantly, "So I assume you've been informed of the basics?"

"Hai."

"Good, now for the details. Around 2 months ago ninja from my village started going missing, at first we thought they'd simply been killed in action or had defected, however after the 11th ninja went missing 2 weeks ago we started to investigate. It turns out that a ninja by the name of Shinga originally from Konoha, has been abducting our nin using some form of unknown genjutsu. We don't know how he's controlling them or what his plans are but we have reports stating that those very same ninja that went missing have been seen in numerous surrounding towns and villages committing all sorts of heinous crimes. To put it simply, I want him stopped and we don't have the manpower to handle such a task right now. So that's where you come into play." She said in a diplomatic tone, contrasting her previous flustered self. Naruto couldn't help but be impressed at the business-like approach she was adopting as she was around the same age as him. Although, his curiosity was raised however by her use of 'my' when referencing the village… It was if she owned it or something.

"Hmm, well to start with, the genjutsu you mentioned that Shinga used, it is actually the result of a forbidden dojutsu called the Jibakugan (self-bondage eye). The genjutsu can be initiated via eye contact and allows the caster to manipulate the target by bringing out and playing on their subconscious negative and hateful emotions." Naruto remarked, also adopting a business-like tone.

"You sure know your stuff." Tsukino said with a smirk.

"I do my homework." The blond replied with a smirk of his own.

"Anyway, I've assigned you a room at a local hotel so you can stay the night there. I'll meet you at the village gates tomorrow at 8am." She said with a small grin.

"Thanks, I'll take my leave then Tsukino-sama," Naruto said with a slight bow of the head.

"Tsukino is fine Naruto-san, I've never been one for formalities," The white-haired girl said with a bright smile.

"That's good because neither have I," Naruto responded merrily with a smile of his own, walking towards the door before stopping, "I'll see you tomorrow morning then, Tsukino-chan." The blond said with a wink, before exiting the room, not noticing the blush that glazed the young heiresses face.

* * *

"Morning, Tsukino-chan!" Naruto greeted cheerily as he approached the girl at the village gates.

"Ah good morning Naruto-san, you're right on time." She replied with a wide smile, causing Naruto to frown.

"You can't tell me to be formal then add '–san' to me name Tsukino-chan, that's not fair." The blond remarked with a mocking pout.

"Oh um sorry," She said lowering her head, "… Naruto-kun." Naruto offered a goofy grin and walked up next to the young teen.

"So you here to see me off?" He asked innocently.

"What? No I'm coming with you." Tsukino replied as if the answer was obvious.

"I can't let you come with me, you're the daughter of the leader of this village! If you get hurt I'm done for!" The Uzumaki exclaimed dramatically.

"Firstly, I'll have you know that I _am_ the leader of this village ever since my father passed away a year ago and secondly those are _my_ ninja out there so _I'm_ going to bringing them back." She responded with an angry pout, puffing her cheeks out slightly. Naruto would have thought she looked cute when angry if he wasn't riddled with guilt.

"Oh… I'm sorry, I didn't know…" He managed lamely, glancing at his feet.

"It's okay I suppose..." Tsukino said, her anger lessening slightly, followed by an abrupt silence.

"So um, I take it you're trained in ninja arts?"

"Of course I am!"

"Just checking, just checking… jeez." Another awkward silence ensued as both teens stood tensely at the village gates not quite knowing what to do or say next.

"So we should probably get going…" Naruto began.

"Yes, I suppose we should." The newly acclaimed village leader said before abruptly leaping off into the nearby trees, surprising the young blond who immediately followed.

After 5 minutes of silent tree hopping Naruto finally decided to speak up, "So where're we heading?" he asked.

"To Shinga's camp, it's meant to be situated south of Tsukigakure and it should take a couple of hours to get there." The Tsukino said without looking at the teen.

"You know, I really am sorry about your father; I didn't mean to bring up bad memories." Naruto spoke sincerely, once again penetrating the silence.

"I forgive you Naruto-kun, I shouldn't have snapped at you, it's just I've been tense around Tsuki with the whole Shinga business and I'm not entirely over my father's passing." She replied in a quiet voice, strained by the sound of the wind rushing by the, offering the blond a small smile.

"What was he like?" Naruto asked suddenly.

Tsukino gave a wistful sigh which made the jinchuriki worry that he may have upset her before she spoke, "He was a great man… I loved him with every inch of my heart." She said, "He didn't act like the leader of the village most of the time though; he was almost like a big kid. I remember when I as a child we would play hide and seek together, and he would always let me win." Naruto felt a pang in his heart as he heard the young girl speak however quickly dismissed it, he didn't want to burden the girl with his worries.

"What about your mother?" He questioned, a little more hesitantly.

"My mother died giving birth to me, so I never met her. Father would always say how alike we were though…" She responded solemnly, noticing Naruto cringe she quickly added, "Don't feel about asking, it's fine, really! It's actually quite nice to talk about these things, lately I've been feeling kind of…"

"Lonely?" Naruto suggested, his voice soft.

"Yeah…"

"I understand." He replied simply, earning a curious glance from the white-haired girl. While the statement itself seemed like a mere heartfelt sentiment, the flash of… something that crossed the blond's face seemed to say otherwise. However she couldn't quite figure out quite what.

"It gets better you know." Naruto said out of the blue, snapping the girl out of her thoughts.

"What does?" She inquired.

"The pain." He replied shortly, his voice quiet and sombre. He looked up at Tsukino making eye-contact for a second, his deep cerulean eyes meeting her glistening emerald causing her to gasp slightly, "Don't give in to it Tsukino-chan. Someone so beautiful doesn't belong in the darkness." He then increased his speed, leaping ahead of the shocked girl. And that was when it hit her. She knew what he meant when he made that simple remark just moments ago. He knew the pain. He knew loneliness.

The duo travelled in silence for the rest of the journey, Tsukino not quite knowing what to say to the enigmatic blond.

Eventually, the teen village head realised they were approaching Shinga's camp, "Um Naruto-kun we should stop here, we're near the camp." She said, unsure of how to communicate with the boy. Naruto made no visual or verbal response that he had heard Tsukino however stopped and dropped down from the clearing nonetheless.

The girl followed hastily and watched as the Uzumaki sat against the base of a tree and took a long drink from his water canteen. Sighing, the girl did the same, and perched herself against a tree opposite the blond.

"Tuskino-chan?" Naruto started, breaking the girl from her musings to see the boy fidgeting with his hands and looked rather uncomfortable, "I um, I'm sorry about earlier. I don't know what came over me." He mumbled sheepishly.

"It's okay Naruto-kun… Are you sure you're alright?" She asked offering the blond a small smile.

"Yeah don't worry about it Tsukino-chan… I think I just didn't get enough sleep last night!" He replied with a wide grin that stretched his whiskers and a hearty laugh. The girl look at him sceptically, but relented nonetheless, begrudgingly satisfied with his answer.

"So what's the plan?" Naruto asked.

"Well first how about you tell me what you can do so I can come up with a strategy?" Tsukino replied with smile.

"Oh okay!" The blond began enthusiastically, "Well, my favourite jutsu is the kage bunshin and I'm capable of produced large numbers of them, I know 3 elemental jutsu, 2 being offensive wind types and the other a defensive earth type. I'm… reasonable at kenjutsu, have a pretty good understanding of fuinjutsu and also have a special form of chakra manipulation which is… a secret." Naruto finished before waving his arms about theatrically, "Oh oh forgot! I can also summon toads and can perform the rasengan, an A-rank jutsu invented by the fourth himself, me and my sensei are the only ones that know it."

" _Those are some pretty import things to forget…_ " The girl thought dryly as she watched Naruto nod to himself smugly.

"What can you do Tsukino-chan?" The blond asked, with a slight tilt to his head.

"Hmm let's see… I'm proficient at genjutsu and in fuinjutsu and also have quite a good knowledge of medicinal herbs." She said tapping her chin with thought.

"That's perfect!" Naruto exclaimed, shocking the white haired girl.

"What do you mean?"

"It's obvious! You can be the support and I'll be the muscle!" He said, seemingly proud of himself.

"Naruto-kun that's obvious, but what we need is…"

"Wait wait I'm not done!" He interrupted before continuing, "I've got it all figured out! This's what we'll do…"

* * *

The man yawned as he sat perched on a branch. He was wearing standard shinobi gear with a forehead protector with a moon engraved upon the front. His facial features were ordinary except the strange, dark red markings underneath his eyes. Today had been pretty boring. But then again what did he expect? Guard duty was always the same. Nothing ever happened. I mean, who would be stupid enough to cross Shinga-sama anyway?

As that thought crossed his mind a flash of yellow in his left peripheral vision made him snap his eyes in the direction only to meet a pair of bright blue eyes.

"Yo!" They said.

"Huh?" Was the only response he managed before his world went dark.

"That was easy." Naruto commented blandly, as he stared up at the form of Tsukino behind the unconscious man.

"Hmm I believe this is Sawasaki-san, he's a low-level chunin I think." The girl in question said looking down at the man before running through a series of hand seals and slamming her hand down onto the man.

"Sealing art: chakra sealing technique!" She shouted as a seal spread briefly over his prone form before fading into nothing.

"Did you get your clones in place?" Tsukino asked.

"Hai."

"Good, let's get moving." As she said this, the same thing happened to approximately four more of Shinga's captives who were also on guard duty, by the hands of Naruto's clones.

Slowly the couple approached a clearing which housed around 10 tents, on the opposite side of said clearing was a small cliff face which housed a cave. Naruto assumed that was where Shinga would be. They both crouched on branches and watched as a few of the other captives went about their business as if they were at home. Suddenly, the outline of a figure began to form in the entrance of the cave, and from it came a tall man with a mane of white hair, placed into two ponytails either side of his head that fell passed his shoulders and onto his chest. He also wore a strange black mask that covered all of his face except his mouth and had red markings on. Naruto recognised him immediately.

"Shit." He cursed.

"What is it?" Tsukino whispered, a worried expression on her face.

"That guy there, like Shinga, is an ex-konoha shinobi. I think he was an ANBU even. His name is Hakui. He's at least chunin level." Naruto explained in a low tone before another figure emerged from the cave. He strolled with his hands behind his back and wore a similar mask to the first. He wore an elaborate green sleeveless one-piece suit with matching arm guards, cloak and a green sombrero? No that couldn't have been a sombrero right? No shinobi wore sombreros, except… shit. Once again cursing his luck Naruto turned his head back to Tsukino.

"We just got more trouble; that guy in green is also an-ex ANBU Konoha missing-nin. His name's Doshin I think." The blond commented, furthering the girls worry.

"What do you know of their abilities?" She asked shakily.

"Hakui uses some form of technique similar to opening the eight gates however from what I've heard it doesn't last long, and Doshin uses some kind of earth jutsu to transform himself increasing power, but again this has drawbacks for the user." Naruto recited, silently thanking ero-sannin for making him revise the bingo books, especially the Konoha missing-nins.

"What do we do?" The village leader asked.

"Nothing."

"Wh-what?"

"We do nothing; we follow the plan. All it means is that it'll be a bit harder to execute." He stated his voice firm. So the two waited. They watched as the two missing-nin sat by the fire, the Doshin character looking suspiciously lax while Hakui looked tensed and coiled as if ready to strike at any moment.

Suddenly, or at least for the missing-nin anyway, feathers began falling from the sky. While the majority of the ninja noticed the genjutsu some of the less aware and or weaker foes didn't and were put to sleep. Targeting those that had fallen asleep, a dozen Naruto clones then jumped out of the surrounding forestry, and bashed them over the head, ensuring that they couldn't be released from the genjutsu and re-join the fight.

Naruto and Tsukino watched as the remaining 4 captive nin and 2 ex-ANBU engaged the clones. Despite outnumbering them, the clones slowly began being dispersed by the rouge shinobi causing Naruto to frown from his crouched spot.

"I'm going to join in, stay here and provide support." Naruto said sternly, before he could go however Tsukino gripped his shirt arm.

"Stay safe Naruto-kun." She whispered, causing the young blond to give her a bright smile.

"Don't worry Tsukino-chan, I'm gonna be Hokage, I won't die here." He said before dashing off.

Joining the fight, Naruto managed to take one of the remaining captive nin by surprise reducing the number to 3. Bringing his hands up into his favourite seal he created another two dozen clones to engage the three Tsuki shinobi while he stared down the Konoha-nin.

"Ooo looky here Hakui-kun! We got ourselves a little Konoha brat! Aren't we lucky?" The one called Doshin exclaimed gaily.

"You know I don't believe in luck Doshin-san, and even if I did begin to conform to such a ridiculous concept, I don't see how this situation would be deemed 'lucky'." Hakui stated blandly causing Naruto to sweapdrop " _He's like Shino but worse_."

"Mou your no fun Hakui-kun!" Doshin whined before moving his head slightly as a kunai whizzed past, "Hmm eager to begin aye? Well don't expect me to hold back because I plan on going all out from the start! Hakui, stay out of this, the kids mine!" He shouted before running through a sequence of hand seals, "Kinjutsu: Mud golem!" With that mud and earth began to lift off the ground and attach itself to man until his 5'8" frame became 6'9" and took the form of a sorta weird, well golem thing.

The man wasted no time before shooting off towards the blond jinchuriki and throwing a punch which Naruto dodged by rolling away. Turning his head he blanched at the sight of a small crater that had formed where the man's punch had hit. " _Shit he's almost as bad as baa-chan_." Naruto thought worriedly before eyeing up the man golem thing. " _My ninjutsu won't work… I'm not entirely confident that I can cut through that amour, I could use a rasengan but it would need to be an Odama version and I'm not sure this guy will give me enough time to form one…_ "

Thinking quickly Naruto ran through some hand seals while jumping backwards to avoid another of Doshin's punches before slamming his hands on the ground.

"Summoning jutsu!" He shouted, causing an eruption of smoke to cover him and the immediate area.

As the smoke cleared, Naruto could be seen standing upon a large toad that was orange with blue markings all over. It also wore battle armour that covered its chest, back, shoulders and forearms.

"Yo Gama! I'm gonna need your help to stop this rock guy." Naruto shouted down to the toad.

"Very well Naruto-kun; I will do my best." It replied in a calm tone, to which the blond grinned wildly.

"Ooooh look at this! The kid can summon toads! My my my, this just keeps getting better!" Doshin shouted excitedly in a strange deep guttural voice. He then leapt into the air, bringing both hands clasped together behind his head and brought them down onto the blond.

Unflinching, the blond made no attempt to move as Gama brought his armoured arms up into a cross, blocking the rouge-nins attack. Naruto did notice however that the toad buckled slightly under the force.

Cursing himself for getting cocky he jumped off the toad, ordering it to engage the missing-nin before making a dozen shadow clones to help.

Naruto then gripped his right wrist with his left hand and watched as the tell-tale swirl of chakra began to form in the palm of his right hand.

The clones were quickly being dispelled by the earth golem and Gama was only just holding his own, only managing to get a few hits in however they didn't seem to do much. Noticing this one of the remaining clones formed a plan.

"Oi gama you think you can give us some oil?" It said before it, and 2 other clones seemingly understanding the others thought process, jumped onto Gama's head.

"I certainly can." The toad replied as it inhaled before spitting out a large stream of oil. Reacting quickly, the clones threw kunai with explosive notes attached into the stream before igniting them, causing a large fireball to barrel its way to the earthen shinobi.

Not having the capacity due to the extra weight to move, the nin placed both arms in front of him protectively before he was engulfed by the inferno.

Naruto watched on from a distance with a smile on his face before looking to his hand and noting that the once small swirl of chakra had finally reached a large enough size to get through Doshin's armour.

Dashing forward, the blond sped towards the golem as the fire cleared, revealing the ex-ANBU to be frozen almost due to the hardened mud. Before he could reach the shinobi however, Hakui appeared in front of golem with an unhappy look on his face. Naruto slowed slightly however his brow etched itself into a frown as the white-haired man's eyes seemed to glaze over as if he was spacing out.

Grinning, he realised Tsukino must have placed a genjutsu on the nin. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Naruto increased his speed, sidestepping the dazed shinobi and thrusted the spiralling sphere of chakra into Doshin's stomach.

A throaty roar came from both the missing-nin and Naruto in pain and exertion as the ball of chakra grinded its way through the hardened mud and into the man's flesh before the young Uzumaki released the ball sending Doshin flying back crashing through multiple trees.

Naruto sighed as he jumped back next to Gama as the toad dispersed in a plume of smoke, cautious to get some distance between him and the now angry Hakui.

"You will pay for this." He said his voice cold and uncaring.

"Hmm… I'm not sure I will?" Naruto replied cheekily, trying to shake the sick feeling that settled in his stomach.

"Prepare yourself, for you shall die for crossing…" Hakui was interrupted then by a feminine shout.

"Naruto-kun! Look out!" Cried the frantic voice of Tsukino, before a sharp pain spawned from his lower back causing him to cry out, stumbling a couple of steps forward. He reached with his hand to touch the affected area and saw it was covered in blood. _His_ blood.

Cursing to himself, Naruto leapt clumsily to the side on reflex, turning his gaze from Hakui to see a tall man with dark grey hair which spiked out in every direction, even more so than Naruto's and wore a black cloak. Under his eyes and between his eyebrows on his forehead were strange dark red markings that seemed to writhe occasionally.

But what made Naruto gasp, was the sight of Tsukino. Or what he thought was Tsukino anyway. The girl was wearing the exact same thing and had the same hair, however a strange, pitch black mask covered her face only revealing her lips and her eyes shone like two white bulbs. In her hands, she clutched a bloody tanto.

"T-tsukino-chan?" The blond managed.

"Naruto-kun! I can't control myself its Shinga" The girl cried in defence.

"Looks like you got quite a lot on your hands, shinobi-kun." Said Shinga, a sneer plastered on his face, "Now, how about you and Tsukino-chan here have a dance hmm?" He then raised his hands into the tiger seal causing the markings on his face writhe furiously.

Naruto watched in horror as Tsukino's form then began to twitch and move, almost robotically, as she raised the tanto in front of her into a stance.

"Please, Naruto-kun… help me." She whimpered slightly.

The blond surveyed the clearing, taking in the tensed and battle ready form of Hakui, the smirking form of Shinga and the crying Tsukino. Only one thought went through his mind.

" _Shit."_

* * *

Feel a bit cruel for leaving this on a cliffhanger but I wanted to get the chapter out so sorry about that.

The way i see it Naruto should be about 15 and a half ish by the end of this chapter? Maybe more like 1/3 but anyway its around the time he goes back to Konoha in canon.

Oh and i'll try to get the next chapter up within a week but i've got exams going on so i'm not sure how long it'll take.

Thanks for reading and peace.


	5. Chapter 5

Yo! First and foremost I'd just like to apologize for the waits, it's been ages. I've had a kinda mad past few weeks with uni and exams n stuff. On the Brightside, I passed. On the downside I've almost no time for fanfiction. However it is summer now so im gonna try and upload a chapter for often.

* * *

" _Shit."_

A Naruto took in his current predicament couldn't help but feel worry and doubt build up in him. What was he to do now? Hadn't this been what he'd trained for? To protect those he cared about? Was it all for nothing? The young jinchuriki gazed into the fearful eyes of Tsukino. Seeing the emotion on her face despite the strange mask and the tear stains that marked her lower cheeks was all it took for Naruto's resolve to harden.

Naruto took a deep breath straightening up from his slouched position and closed his eyes, letting go of the wound to his back.

"Oh? What's this shinobi-kun? Finally given up?" Shinga jeered, a smirk resting grimly upon his face. Garnering no response from the young blond the rogue nin's smile slipped as he 'tsskt'ed' to himself despondently, "doesn't matter anyway." He muttered, before raising his hands into a single seal.

Almost immediately the markings on his upper face began pulsing as Tsukino started moving almost robotically at first before dashing off towards the static blond.

As the young village leader came within meters of the Uzumaki, his eyes shot open, the once calm oceanic cerulean now a cold electric blue. The kunoichi didn't flinch however continuing her path towards Naruto, her tanto outstretched in front of her aiming for his heart.

Suddenly a dark orange glow flashed through the clearing and the short sword was halted an inch away from Naruto's skin. There latched onto the girl's sword and hand was an orange spiked chain which seemed to have an ethereal glow, originating from behind the blond.

Before the kunoichi could react further, 8 more chains shot out from behind the Uzumaki wrapping themselves around Tsukino binding her legs and arms securely. Naruto raised a single hand shaping it into the half tiger seal.

"Uzumaki style: chains of the 9th enlightenment." He said evenly in a calm voice, forming his chakra and sending a pulse through the chains, "Seal!" The chains attached to Tsukino then broke off from the ones attached to Naruto leaving the girl bound as they seemed to tighten ever so slightly causing the kunoichi to fall over unceremoniously.

Shinga stared at the fallen girl in a mixture of shock and rage before looking back at the Konoha shinobi, his eyes widening at the sight.

There he stood, arms crossed across his chest, his face emotionless except for the slight frown adorning his brow, his now electric eyes seemingly alive. What was most striking about the teenaged boy however was the nine, orange spiked chakra chains, originated from the blond's lower back, whipping about as though having life of their own.

"Y-you… I know who you are," Shinga exclaimed having taken in the Konoha shinobi's appearance.

"And who might that be?" Naruto replied calmly, with the slightest tilt of his head.

"You're that kyuubi brat! I can't believe it!" The rouge nin then laughed, clutching his stomach, "To think the little no-good gaki survived after all these years!" He then wiped away imagine tears dramatically. Hakui, contrasting his master had no outward reaction to the revelation. "Looks like things just got interesting, wouldn't you say, Hakui-kun." Shinga stated, his face dropping the smirking façade almost as quickly as it came, adopting a cold look.

"Go." Shinga almost whispered, and with that Hakui nodded slightly before shooting off towards Naruto, kunai in hand.

Almost as if acting on their own will, Naruto's chakra chains shot towards the ex-ANBU engaging him. Hakui was prepared for the counter-assault however as he weaved closer to the young blond between the mass of chains.

Despite the nine chains barraging the rogue-nin, he still made his way to the Konoha shinobi, kunai raised aiming for Naruto's throat. Sighing in irritation, bent backwards avoiding Hakui's strike, then using the chakra chains as pseudo limbs he rolled backwards and sprung to his feet as Hakui re-arranged the kunai in his hand and dived forward with another slash.

Naruto, not having enough time to react used his chains to deflect the kunai as the missing-nin launched a series of attacks, forming a blur of arms and chakra.

Realising the exchange was getting him nowhere, Naruto jumped back running through a quick series of hand signs.

" _Wing style: Great breakthrough!"_ The blond thought as he exhaled a large gust of wind from his mouth towards the missing-nin. Not having enough time to jump out of the way, Hakui was hit dead on by the gale launching him back into treeline.

"Your lap dog wasn't all that tough, huh?" Naruto smirked, allowing his chakra chains dissipate.

"Hmm, I wouldn't write off Hakui-kun so soon." Shinga replied casually, a small grin adorning his face. Naruto frowned at his lack worry, his mind working on the underlying message in the man's words.

Suddenly, the sound of metal slicing through air reached Naruto's ears before he ducked down instinctively, just as a kunai passed just where his head had been.

Regaining his composure, the blond looked up to see Hakui emerging from the treeline, clothes slightly tattered but otherwise unarmed. Upon closer inspection, Naruto noticed the rogue-nin's hair seemed slightly longer and shaggier having broken loose from its hair bands.

"I'm afraid you can't get rid of Hakui-kun that easy shinobi-san, although it does seem he had to resort to using his… special supplement." Shinga interjected, looking almost bored as Hakui resumed his place at the rogue-nin's side.

"Forgive me Shinga-sama, I took him for granted." Hakui intoned emotionlessly.

"Don't let it happen again." Shinga replied coldly.

As Naruto watched the two missing-nin converse he cursed silently to himself, noticing Hakui's sudden rise in chakra, " _Where the hell did he get all that power from?_ " He thought to himself in irritation.

Before the young blond could ponder the situation further, Hakui appeared in front of him in a flash, hand raised behind him poised to strike. Thinking quickly Naruto hopped back narrowly dodging the missing-nin's slash, however he did however catch Naruto's attire producing five claw like tears in his shirt. Looking closely, Naruto noticed the elongated and sharpened claw-like nails now adorning Hakui's fingers, complimenting his more animalistic look, " _Shit, those look dangerous._ " The jinchuriki thought to himself quickly before dodging another barrage of attacks from the ex-ANBU, " _Although, his style is a lot more wild now, harder to predict but less accurate."_ He added mentally. He was brought out of his thoughts however by a shout from Hakui in a less composed and more guttural voice,

"Ninpou: hair strengthening jutsu!" he cried, as his hair expanded becoming almost like jiraiya's whilst using his hair Justus.

"What the fu…" Before Naruto could finish however he was struck head on by a large pinwheel of hair and sent flying across the clearing, "Ugh… what just hit me?" Raising shakily from his prone position.

Across, the clearing Naruto spotted what appeared to be a steamroller of spiked hair doing a full circle before coming back at the blond. Eyes widening at the speed Hakui was approaching, the young blond jumped to his feet and rolled to the side avoiding being crushed by the oncoming rogue-nin. As the, ex-ANBU turned around preparing for another attempt to crush the blond, Naruto's mind began to race with ways to counter the jutsu, " _Shit, most my ninjutsu won't have any effect except maybe the rasengan, my kenjutsu is quite advanced enough to do anything, and I'm not sure my chakra chains can hold him down… Guess it's time to revert to old tactics."_ He concluded to himself, before raising his hands into his favourite seal.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto shouted, producing a couple dozen clones who dispersed and spread throughout the clearing, as Hakui rolled pass where Naruto once was.

Emerging from his ball-like state, Hakui surveyed the clearing noticing not all the Naruto clones where present in open view. Deciding to change tactics, the rogue-nin engaged the closest clones in taijutsu managing to dispel a couple in the process. Suddenly however he was blindsided, by two clones who threw simultaneous kicks to the man's stomach sending him flying back.

Managing to flip in the air, the missing-nin landed on his feet, only to be rocked back into the air by two powerful 'great breakthroughs' at the hands of two separate clones, costing them their lives as they erupted in clouds of smoke. Unable to gain his bearings, Hakui landed heavily on the rough terrain, wincing as he bounced along the ground. Standing shakily to his feet he reached into his back pocket where he pulled out a small sack and quickly emptied its contents into his mouth, swallowing painfully.

"Ah, so that's where your power boost came from!" Naruto exclaimed, seemingly the only one figure in the clearing apart from Shinga and Hakui, "Surely taking that many must have some pretty bad side effects though, am I right?" The blond continued amiably, a small smirk adorning his features.

"Yes, it is unfortunate that there are some… unwanted negative effects," Hakui replied carefully, causing Naruto's grin to widen before continuing, "you, however will not live long enough to see them." He finished with confidence as his muscles began pulsating violently.

With a surge of chakra, Hakui's pulsating muscles tore out of his clothing doubling his size, his normally lithe frame bulging with dense muscles. Hakui, now standing at around 6'4", he towered over a now wide eyed Naruto.

"Well fuc-" Naruto managed before diving to the side as Hakui flashed before him in a blur of speed. Regaining his bearings, he was once again forced to roll to the side to avoid another slash from the rogue-nin.

" _Shit shit shit shit, this is isn't good_ ," Naruto thought to himself frantically. He could use his chains however they were hard to control and he wasn't confident that they were strong enough to hold the raging ex-ANBU.

Doing a few back flips away from Hakui, Naruto attempted to calm himself with a deep breath, " _guess I've got no choice then_." He thought, taking into consideration Shinga still needed dealing with.

Closing his eyes, Naruto searched within himself until he felt the heart of that familiar fiery chakra. Opening his deep cerulean eyes he met a pair of slit, raging vermillion orbs found behind a row of towering pillars.

" **What brings you here, human?** " a deep, guttural voice echoed throughout the chamber.

"I… I came to ask you for your help." Naruto responded confidently, internally berating himself for the slight stutter.

" **My help…"** The kyuubi repeated, before breaking of into a fit of thundering laughter, " **You wish for my help! Ah you pathetic being. What happened to that independent, 'I don't need you' attitude? huh brat?"** the Bijuu asked between fits of laughter.

Naruto frowned, despite himself he'd expected this result. He knew it wouldn't be easy to convince the mighty fox, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.

"I was wrong." He muttered quietly, though it carried through the chamber.

" **What was that brat?** " the kyuubi queried with a slight tilt of the head, the statement breaking it out of its laughter

"I was wrong." Naruto repeated a little louder this time, "I understand you don't like me, and to be honest I'm not wild about you." The fox grunted in agreement before allowing the blond to continue, "but, we're stuck together. And right now, I need your help, so…" the blond trailed off before locking eyes with the Biju.

"Kyuubi no Kitsune," He began, causing the fox to narrow his eyes slightly at his serious tone, "will you please help me, this one time. So I can protect someone I care for." Naruto finished, bowing his head slightly causing the kyuubi to widen his slightly

Silence. All an anxious Naruto was met with was silence. That is before a deep booming laughter reached his ears once more.

" **You do amuse me mortal, raise your head before I lose what little respect i hve for you,** " The fox grinned, causing Naruto to meet his gaze, " **I will lend you some of power, however only on this occasion, do not think that this will be a reoccurring theme. You still have a long way to go to earn the right to know my name.** " The fox boomed, a sinister grin with a slight hint of mischief adoring its face.

"Wait what? The kyuubi isn't your name? What's your na-" Naruto question before the Kyuubi cut him off.

" **Now go, and don't disappoint me!** " without warning, Naruto was flung from his mindscape. Opening his eyes, mind still reeling at the Kyuubi's cryptic words, he felt the familiar slight sting of the fiery chakra coursing through his system. However unlike before, he didn't feel the same level of bloodlust or pain that normally accompanied the chakra.

"Tch, you should be careful Hakui-kun, it appears the demon brat has tapped into the demons power, what a surprise" Shinga commented dryly.

Before Naruto could retort however a voice interrupted in his head.

" _ **I've changed my mind brat, I want you to destroy these two. I do not take being called a demon lightly…**_ " The kyuubi growled.

" _Wait, you can talk to me like this now?_ " Naruto replied internally, crimson slit eyes still fixated on Hakui. The fox laughed shortly before speaking.

" _ **Fool, I have always been able to, I just didn't want to.**_ "

" _Heh, fair enough,"_ Naruto thought, eyes narrowing as a smirk grew across his face, " _besides, I don't like being called a demon either,"_ Despite, not being able to see it, Naruto felt the kyuubi grin within his mind.

"Well then," The blond began stretching out his neck, "let's get started" with a blur of red, the blond shot of towards Hakui. Surprised by the sudden boost in speed, the ex-ANBU, simply raised both arms in order to block the punch from the jinchuriki, assuming it to be enough.

It wasn't.

In a show of strength and newly found chakra control, Naruto focused the kyuubi's chakra into his right hand, causing an ethereal red claw to take shape over it. Overwhelmed by the force of the punch. Hakui was thrown back, crashing through a set of trees with a sickening crack.

"Shinku no tsume…" Naruto muttered aloud, " _That was for you, you bastard fox_ " he then thought to himself with a grin, eliciting a deep chuckle from within his mind.

Not giving Naruto time to pat himself on the back however, Hakui jumped back into the clearing, his sleeves completely torn and ugly bruises and burn marks adorning his forearms.

Breathing laboured, Hakui stared down the blond taking in his appearance with more caution. Overall his physique had changed quite a bit. He was a couple inches taller along with his muscles being slightly bigger, his whisker marks were more ragged and worn, his eyes were slit and a glowing crimson, his hair had slight red tinges at the tips and his fangs seemed elongated.

Frowning, Hakui realised his only option was to go all out, consequences be damned. Reaching into his back pocket he pulled out the rest of his supplement and finished the small bag. At the side of the clearing, Shinga grinned evilly, knowing his minions intentions.

With another mighty surge of chakra, Hakui's muscles bulged once more, as well as his height increasing again, to a shocking 6'10".

Naruto watched the ordeal with barely concealed boredom.

Hakui turned, to face the blond, noticing the bored expression on his face, the rogue-nin became enraged.

Launching himself from his position, Hakui clasped both hands together and raised them above is head, intent on ending the blond. However at the last second the blond blurred out of sight. The ex-ANBU's attack caused a ripple across the ground as a small crater appeared the clearing.

Breathing heavily, Hakui surveyed his damage with a wild grin on his normally stoic face. The grin faltered however as a soft whistle reached his ears. Spinning on his heels, he spotted the familiar blond stood at the side of the crater, hands stuffed in his pockets, the thin veil of red chakra still surrounding the teen.

"Jeez that's a lot of power you've got there," He commented lightly, "however…"

Hakui's eyes widened as he blond disappeared from sight in a haze of red. Before he could wonder where the blond had got to however, a sharp pain sprouted from his chest. Looking down, a hand with sharp fingernails was forced through his chest, blood dripping off the end of the fingertips.

"… all that power means nothing if you're not fast enough" a voice whispered in his ear, eyes widening at each syllable. Slowly, the rogue-nin slid of the arm landing on the rough terrain with force.

Naruto looked down at the body. His burning eyes slowly showing the reality of his actions. Frowning, he knelt down next to the body and hovered his hand over the gaping dark red hole in the man's back. Sending a slither of the kyuubi's chakra into the wound, Naruto winced as the hole sizzled and began to fold over.

" _ **What are you doing brat**_ **?** " the kyuubi questioned within his mind.

" _He may be my enemy, but… but no man deserves to die like this. I'm not a murderer, I am a shinobi_." He replied mentally, as he stabilized the man sprawled out in front of him, just enough so that he wouldn't die.

" _ **Aren't they the same thing?**_ " the fox retorted, causing the blond to frown.

" _No… they're not_." He said with conviction.

"I'm impressed." Shinga's sly voice broke Naruto out of his stupor, "although I don't know why you kept that pathetic excuse of a ninja alive."

"That, right there is exactly why I kept him alive." Shinga tilted his head in confusion prompting Naruto to continue, "this man gave you his complete loyalty, he would follow you anywhere. Yet you treated him like trash, like he was just a pawn." The ex-ANBU laughed bitterly in response.

"You naïve fool." He began, "We are shinobi! We are all pawns in the grand scheme of things. Hakui was no different. Just a disposable tool."

"You're wrong! Shinobi are more than that! Shinobi are humans!" Naruto all but shouted, losing his temper as the red chakra around him started to boil and spit more violently.

"Ah I see. You have yet to taste loss," Shinga commented in a mock sage voice, as he gestured with his arms theatrically and sauntered behind the downed Tsukino, causing Naruto's eyes to widen dramatically, "In the face of pain even the strongest of us fall shinobi-kun, and its time for you to face pain!" Realising what the rogue-nin was attempted Naruto to rush forward. But not before the image of a kunai being thrust into Tsukino's back was etched into the Jinchuriki's mind.

And all he saw was red.

* * *

Naruto awoke with a start, his whole body screaming. Blinking he took in his surroundings. He appeared to be in a well-furnished bedroom, which was a pleasant difference to the usual scenery being white walls and the harsh smell of antiseptic. Propping himself up on his elbows, wincing in pain, he observed the bandages that covered his body. His whole body.

"Man I must've been beaten pretty bad" He thought aloud, in a harsh voice.

"You got that right brat!" Turning his head, Naruto spotted familiar face of the toad sage sat on the window ledge, "You really did a number on yourself."

"What happened" the blond questioned hesitantly trying to recall how he'd once again ended up fully bandaged and bedridden.

"Well, it seems your little skirmish with Shinga and his crew didn't go as smoothly as anticipated," the sage began, however Naruto wasn't really listening, instead he was trying to recall the battle, "It's my fault really, I shouldn't have sent you, you weren't ready. If I'd be-"

"Wait! Ero-jiji… where's Tsukino?" The blond shouted, causing Jiraiya's expression to falter, before becoming more solemn, eyes moving towards the ground, "No, ero-jiji, jiraiya-sensei please, she's not-"

"Come with me brat" The sage said simply, making his way to the door, prompting the blond to gingerly make his way out of bed and follow, his heart thundering in his chest.

Slowly, the pair made their way through a maze of hallways, and the blond was starting to lose his patience. The suspense was killing him.

Just as he was about to complain however, the toad sage stopped outside a large set of double doors, intricately decorated with carvings of the moon. With a gentle push, the door opened giving way to a large bedroom fit for royalty. Naruto's eyes however where fixated on the bed in the centre of the room, where sat a king sized bed. In the centre of the bed lay a pale Tsukino.

Not waiting another second, Naruto rushed forwards next to the girl, eyes scanning her body. With relief he noticed the seal like marking was no longer etched on her forehead.

With further relief, the young Uzumaki noted her chest was rising and falling, despite at a painfully slow rate.

"She's in a coma." Jiraiya's voice carried its way to Naruto's ears.

"A coma? But why? How?" He questioned in a small voice,

"The blood loss she suffered from caused her body to shut down, the wound itself will heal time but she… she may never wake." Jiraiya answered, his voice laced in sorrow, "I'm sorry kid, it's not your fault"

Naruto locked eyes with Jiraiya for a second before dragging them back to the prone Tsukino, "What happened to Shinga and Hakui?" he asked softly.

"Hakui was found barely alive and is now facing trial," the sage began before pausing.

"And Shinga?" Naruto again asked, worry creeping into is voice. Jiraiya's eyes hardened as he met Naruto's gaze.

"We didn't find a body, just bits and pieces." He said in a stern voice.

"You mean I…" The young blond started.

"Yeah brat, but don't worry about it. We all have our dark days."

"But, to do it like that, I didn't think I was capable…" Naruto's eyes now began to moisten.

"Like I said kid, we all of our dark days. However it's not our dark days that make us who we are, but how we overcome them." Naruto looked over to the man who he was beginning to see as a father figure. A sad, reminiscent smile on his face as he looked out the window, "You can overcome them kid, you're tough. Just like your mother." Naruto began sniffling holding back his tears as Jiraiya looked on with a fond smile, "I'll give you two some space," he added before exiting the room.

Looking over Tsukino's form, Naruto couldn't help the pang guilt rush through him. If only he had been stronger, faster, better. This always seemed to happen. Just when he thought he'd gotten stronger, strong enough. Something like this happens. Completely wiping his confidence.

Grasping Tsukino's hand gently in his own he smiled sadly, "I suppose I'm going to have to get stronger then, huh? Tsukino-chan." He spoke softly.

Giving the young leader's hand one last squeeze the young blond stood from his knelt position next to the bed. Reaching out, he place the hand gently on the girl's cheek, before leaning over her and kissing her lips softly.

"I'll be back when you wake up, Tsukino-chan, and I'm gonna be a whole lot stronger too," He grinned, "And remember, the pain stops eventually, you just have to wade your way through it."

With that he turned, and left the room. A fire in his eyes and his resolve hardened.

He was going to get stronger. A lot stronger.

* * *

Thanks for reading dudes and dudettes. Fave and review if you're feeling it


	6. Chapter 6

Yo, thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter, great to see the comments. Just to answer some questions though:

Firstly, tsukino and that arc aren't mine they're fillers from one of the games, look her up to see what she and shinga look like, and I will try to find other unheard of fillers like this.

Secondly this probably won't be a harem fic, however Naruto will have multiple love interests. One thing that's always annoyed me about fics is how characters meet their love at like 13 or 16 and then stay with them forever. So Naruto will probably end up with Kurotsuchi however he will meet and hook up with other girls (probably) along the way.

Last, Naruto will be badass not relying on the kyuubi soon however it won't be, he learns the shadow clone secret then gets strong in a week, type of baddassery. That shits lame.

* * *

"Ne, Ero-jiji you could have told me my look had changed!" A disgruntled blond whined as a gazed into the mirror of the hotel room quizzically. The sage who was sat down in the corner of the room, merely shrugged and returned to his drink before answering.

"I didn't think it was important"

"But it looks weird!" The Uzumaki moaned, looking over to the older man.

"No it doesn't brat don't be stupid," He took a long swig of his sake, "If anything, the ladies will be even more all over you from now on." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively before returning to the scroll on his lap. Naruto rolled his eyes, turning back to the mirror.

Overall the changes weren't drastic. There were no fox tails with ears and literal whiskers however they were definitely noticeable. His hair was still the same sun yellow, however the tips now had a red tinge, as well his roots. His cerulean eyes were as blue as before, with the normally round pupils now a canine slit. He'd also grown in both height and muscle, now standing at around 5'6". Overall he appeared more like an Inuzuka now.

It had been one month since the duo had left Tsukigakure and the two had stopped at a roadside inn before continuing the training trip. Naruto moved to sit next to his godfather. Sighing and rolling his neck, he reached into his bag and took out a scroll similar to the old man's. In the past month, Naruto had been focusing exclusively on his fuinjutsu. Before the incident, Naruto could perform a modest of storage, explosive, barrier and restraint seals. He was now working on seals that where more battle ready. So far he'd managed to develop one of his own original seals, which he was working on now. It worked in tandem with his chains and was essentially a stronger form of his standard restraining seal, and required the use of a few shadow clones.

Furrowing his brow he gave the sealing mechanism a one over. Trying to decide how to alter the seal in order to make it more flexible and battle ready.

"You've been working on that for a while brat." The sage commented, not taking his eyes off his own scroll.

"Yeah well this a big one. If I can set this up properly and make it more battle accessible it has the potential to restrain at least an A ranked ninja." The blond murmured.

"I suppose," The man said, rolling his brown eyes towards his younger companion, "However I want you to stop working on that have a look at this for a while, at least while we're not moving or doing other training." He pulled out a scroll from under his kimono. The parchment itself was tinged a slightly darker brown, worn with age.

"What is it?"

"It's the basics of space-time fuinjutsu." Jiraiya mentioned nonchalantly, watching the blond for his reaction.

"Space-time fuinjutsu?" The blond's eyebrows rose slightly with intrigue, "Isn't this slightly out of my league? Space-time fuinjutsu is at least a level 8" the old man rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Like I said kid, it's only the basics, you can handle it." The blond grinned at the white haired man before turning his eyes to the new scroll in his hand, "Alright, now you've got something to keep you occupied, I'm gonna go have some fun" with another wiggle of his eyebrows, Jiraiya stood and made his way to the door.

"We're like in the middle of nowhere, where are you gonna go?" Naruto questioned.

"There's a bar at this inn," he said simply before raising his arm with a point to his finger as if making a grand declaration, "and where there is a bar, there are ladies" Naruto, for what felt like the fifth time rolled his eyes as the old man left the room

"Perv" He said with a giggle, " _I guess somethings never change_."

* * *

"Alright kid," Jiraiya began as the two strolled down a remote path, "we're now at the last two months of your second year and so far your fuinjutsu as well as your jutsu range has improved however I think it's time for you to get to know that sword of yours." Naruto look down to the side at the sword that was fixed horizontally across his lower back.

"Yeah I feel bad, I mean here I am with an Uzumaki heirloom, and I barely know how to use it," the blond sighed and looked up to the gathering clouds in the sky, "I kinda feel like I'm neglecting it, you know?"

"Hmm well where we're going next should help with that." The toad sage said.

"Where we going?"

"To Kumo!"

"Kumo?"

"Yeap"

"wha- but they're a ninja village they won't just let us in and train us!" the blond argued looking up at the older man.

"I've got some information on the Akatsuki that the Raikage will most likely be very interested in. Considering his brother is a jinchuriki," He paused momentarily, "who I was hoping one he would give you some tips on controlling the fox."

"The Raikage's brother is a jinchuriki," Naruto near shouted, eliciting a nod form the sage, ignoring the comment about controlling the kyuubi for now, "wow, which one?"

"The Hachibi," the man replied, "The host of the Nibi also resides there if I recall correctly"

" _ **Ah, Gyuki and Matatabi**_ " The kyuubi's suddenly sounded in Naruto's mind breaking a month or so of silence.

" _What? Are Gyuki and Matatabi the names of the hachibi and nibi?_ " Naruto questioned the fox.

" _ **That's right brat**_ "

" _Well, what's your name then_?" Naruto was met with silence, irking him slightly, " _Oi kyuubi I asked what your name was!_ "

" _ **Shut up you brat you don't deserve to know my name yet, your insolence is frustrating**_ "

" _Whatever, I'll find out eventually you angsty prick. Believe it_ " Before the kyuubi could begin to retort, Naruto cut of connection to his mindscape, only to find a curious Jiraiya waving his hand in the blond's face.

"Yo gaki, you okay there?" He said, in a drawl monotone.

"Huh? Yeah I was just talking to the fox." Jiriaya leaned it, his brow raised.

"The fox? You been talking to it much recently?" Naruto frowned and looked off to the side into the blank forestry.

"Not really," he said "he's been more stubborn than usual since the incident at Tsukigakure," Jiraiya hummed response before speaking.

"You and him are on good terms?" the old sage asked.

"Pfft, yeah right. That fox would rather be sealed into a toilet than admit he was on good terms with someone, or kami forgive be friends with them."

"You want to be friends with him?"

"Well yeah I don't see why not." The blond looked back at Jiraiya, his face melancholy, "I mean, despite being a big red fox of angry chakra who seemingly hates everything, he's been with me for my whole life, and will be for the rest of my life to come. So yeah I wouldn't mind being friends with him. But that goddamn fox won't even tell me his name."

"They have names?" Jiraiya questioned, still slightly shocked by the boys opinion.

"Yeah, he told me the Hachibi and Nibi are called Gyuki and Matatabi."

Jiraiya hummed under his breath once again in a contemplative manner and the two continued strolling in silence. Recalling the blond's words he smiled slightly. The thought of his student trying to befriend a chakra monster as great as the fox, while scary, also pleased him. He turned to watch the blond, looking into his cerulean blue eyes, with his now slit pupil and saw a fire burning that he wasn't quite sure was there before. If there was anyone who could befriend the kyuubi, it would definitely be Naruto.

* * *

The student and master duo had been making their way to Kumo for around a week now, and they'd finally reached lightening country. Along the way, Naruto had practically been glued to the space-time fuinjutsu basics given to him by Jiraiya. The old man would've been impressed by the kid's determination if it wasn't so irritating. As it turns out, a lot of the women have a certain attraction to young blonds who take their training seriously, even more so since his 'change' in appearance. Although, at the same time the kid did seem to attract the ladies all the same so in way he was a double-edged sword to the sages social life. A small smile etched its way across his face as he thought of the past week, more specifically, Naruto's birthday.

* * *

"What we doing to today then ero-jiji?" A certain blond said as he stepped through the doorway.

"I thought today we'd take it easy, relax a bit." Jiraiya followed Naruto through the door and stretched his arms above his head, taking in the fresh air.

"Wha? Why? Can't you teach me some cool new jutsu or something?" Naruto questioned, turning on his heel to look at the old man.

"Can it brat, you've learnt a lot so far and you'll learn more but it's important to take rest days,"

"Fine fine jeez," the blond placed his hands above his head and began to the town centre. Jiraiya smiled fondly after him. Wondering if Naruto was deliberately not mentioning his birthday or whether he had simply just forgot.

"Why don't we go the hot springs, it'll do our poor muscles some good."

"I don't wanna go to some hot springs so you can just perv out on some girls," Around them the sound of people carrying out their day began to grow as they entered the town centre.

"Hey I wasn't gonna do that! There will be no perving," the old man pouted, and odd sight for someone his age, "not today anyway" he added under his breath.

Naruto turned his head to the side, gazing and the white-haired man out of the corner of his slightly narrowed eye.

"Hmm fine, I suppose it would be nice to get some rest," he grinned, his normal cheesy grin prompting the old man to do the same and the two strolled of the nearest onsen.

When they arrived the blond sent the old man a slightly curious glance. Normally he was a cheap skate, a prude with money to say the least. But this place. It was impressive to say the least. The grandiose traditional Japanese building stood at around three stories high with a painted sign in golden fine kanji reading "Murasaki springs"

"Oi ero-jiji… are you sure you want to go here? Looks kinda… pricey?"

"What? Are you saying the mighty toad sage can't afford such a place?"

"Nah, just that you're so tight with money that you'd rather dig a hole in the ground and fill it with water yourself than stay in place like this usually." Naruto commented dryly.

"Hey I'm not that bad!" the sage complained as he entered through the large sliding doors before hushing his voice, "besides the owner of this place owes me a favour."

The blond rolled his eyes as a grin formed upon his face, "course they do."

"Jiraiya-kun! Is that you?" Naruto turned, a curious eyebrow raised at the sultry feminine voice that called after his sensei, only for both to raise when he found the source. The woman in question was without a doubt, irrefutably, no questions asked, a man.

He was wearing dark red eye-shadow, with matching red lipstick and had obvious layers of make-up adorning his cheeks, highlighting his prominent cheekbones. His jaw was wide and strong and his neck thick with muscle. Long brown hair was tied into a high ponytail, and he wore a large hooped earring on each ear. His short salmon kimono ended just above his knees revealing muscular legs and the kimono its self was open slightly revealing his masculine torso. The guy was big too, even taller than Jiraiya standing at around 6'5" where Jiraiya was 6'4".

"Ah Chiriko…" The man frowned fiercely, "chan?" His frown became a beaming smile, "it's good to see you," the old man said with an awkward laugh, raising one hand to scratch the back of his head.

"Now now Jiraiya-kun don't be so formal, come and give Chi-chan a hug," without waiting the mountain of a man rushed forward and enveloped the sage in a bear hug, holding the him to his muscular chest.

Naruto's hand instinctively clamped over his mouth as his cheeks inflated in a valiant attempt to contain his laughter.

"Oh Jiraiya-kun you never change, always so bashful and gentlemanly," the man cooed as he lifted Jiraiya of the ground slightly and began swaying the sage side to side like a toddler clasping an oversized cuddly toy one can win at festival stalls.

At this point it all became too much for young Naruto as streams of laughter broke through the cracks in his fingers followed by a chorus of hysterics. Jiraiya saw this and frowned before a wry smile reached his blueing features.

"Oh, um Chiriko-chan I forgot to introduce you to my new student!" the old man managed to wheeze. Chiriko dropped the sage leaving him gasping as he placed his hands on his knees and looked up to the blond, colour returning to his face, "The is Naruto Uzumaki." He grinned evilly. The man turned to face the Naruto, dragging his gaze with him. The boy's laughter seized immediately as his face contorted with horror.

"Oh Jiraiya-kun… you never told me you had such a handsome little disciple." Chiriku purred sending shivers up Naruto's spine.

"Um nice to meet you Chiriko-san," He said, taking an unconscious step back as the large man took a step forward.

"Now now Naruto-kun, its nee-san to you," a gleam appeared in the man's eye, "and what did I say to Jiraiya about being so formal hmm? Come give Chiriko nee-san a hug," the man opened his arms wide taking another step forward.

"Oh er thanks but I'm not real-" the boy stuttered before he was wrapped up in the same bear hug that caught the old man, his feet leaving the ground as he was swayed side to side.

"Aw little Naruto-kuns shy, what a fine young man," At this point Naruto had begun to turn blue as the air was sucked out of him.

"Um Chiriko-chan if you could please drop my student, he um seems to be losing consciousness," the old man pleaded cautiously, clasping both hands together in front of him.

Naruto didn't hear his sensei's pleas however, as the world around him started to turn black. The last thing he saw before unconsciousness overcame him was a masculine face with streams of wet running make-up infused tears looking down on him, and then, all was black.

* * *

When Naruto woke he was in one of the bath house's finest rooms. Jiraiya had proceeded to inform him that Chiriko used to be a merchant nicknamed rather appropriately 'the bear' and was famous for his aggressive taijutsu and impressive strength. After an incident however he decided the mercenary life wasn't for him and so looked for a change. And a change he found.

The blond thought back with a faint smile to when Chiriko had burst into his room crying for forgiveness, despite the odd sight of seeing such a large man, dressed so, crying in front of him, he forgave the ex-merc and now found himself strolling to main lobby where Chiriko said his niece would show him around the springs.

Naruto shuddered involuntarily as he imagined a Chiriko replica, much like the Gai/Lee combo. If only ero-jiji hadn't insisted that they'd come to this strange onsen he wouldn't be in this situation.

Reaching the lobby he sat down in own the chairs at the side of the rooms and leant back resting his head against the back of the chair and closing his eyes

"Um Naruto-san?" A voice made its way to his ears, causing him to wince slightly at the realisation that it was the niece. Opening one eye, half expexting to see a great lumbering man despite the soft femininity of the voice, Naruto laid his single eye on the niece of Chiriko.

To say he was shocked would be an understatement.

To put it simply. The girl was beautiful. She had soft brown hair, wrapped into a single brain that traced its way between her shoulder blades with matching soft brown eyes. Her lips, perky and a natural pink. She wore a traditional light green kimono with a pink trim that clung to developed curves, alluringly so, but to too much. Her generous chest was fully contained within the kimono top unlike her uncle, however one could tell she was well-endowed without seeing so.

"Naruto-san?" The girl repeated.

"Oh yeah," the blond shook his slightly, adopting a grin, "Hi, I'm Naruto Uzumaki." The girl smiled, a neat smile.

"Suki." Naruto nodded dumbly, "Uncle tells me you are staying with Jiraiya-san." The phrase was more of a question than a statement, but the blond nodded nonetheless.

"Yeah I am," He said, still not quite able to converse efficiently.

"Well, I've been asked to show you around the springs, so shall we?" she raised her arm to her side, drawing Naruto's eyes from her to one of the hallways exiting the lobby. The blond nodded.

Suki had shown Naruto around the various different baths within Murasaki springs. Initially, the boy had been unable to speak full sentences however quickly found his stride once he realised how stupid he was being and soon conversation was flowing.

Suki, while giving an air of serenity and nobility, was surprisingly chilled and humorous in her demeanour. Naruto also found her to have a slight mischievous streak, much to the misfortune of the young blond, as it lead to a lot of flirtatious teasing at his expense.

Naruto was now sat in a changing room to one of the main baths thinking over his day. It had been pretty hectic. Laughing softly to himself he smiled; it was much better than if he was in Konoho that's for sure. Standing he wrapped the small towel around his groin and walked through the curtained doorway into the bath.

Hit by a haze of warm mist the blond sighed at the pleasant feel. Sleepily he dragged his feet to the nearest stool. Sitting down he realised the bath was empty, which he assumed was unusual for such a fancy place.

As he began to lather himself with the soap and sponges provided he heard someone else enter the bath. The light padding of footsteps moved towards him until a vague shadow of a figure emerged from the mist and sat itself down on the stool next to him.

Shrugging to himself Naruto continued to wash himself, humming slightly under his breath.

"Would you like me to wash your back, Naruto-kun?" The boy didn't ponder on the question.

"Hmm if you don't mind," He said tiredly, sighing as a pair of small soft hands began to lather his back with soap, using slow, deliberate, circular motions to cover the whole surface. Once again, Naruto sighed as he the hands began to massage his back, easing away any tension built up.

In his sleepy haze, Naruto didn't notice the two hands slowly making their way from his back, to the laterals on his sides and then to his front. Only when two soft orbs delicately pressed against his back did the teen's eyes snap open.

Looking, down Naruto watched as the hands danced across his abdominals, his mind still focused on the mounds pressing from behind.

"Um, Suki-san?" he called hesitantly.

"Ma Naruto-kun, call me Suki-chan," He almost felt the girl pout behind him.

"What're you doing?" the girl moved her face into the crook of Naruto's neck, her lips softly pressing against his skin.

"Helping you relax," She purred into his ear as she dragged her body closer to his, her hands now caressing the blond's chest.

Meanwhile, Naruto was facing a problem, he could feel his heartbeat begin to pick up and his body began to react to the girl's ministrations.

"Suki-chan I-"

"Shhh, Naruto-kun, don't worry," the girl said as she began laying delicate kisses up the boy's neck eliciting a shiver and small moan. Her hands, snaking their way back down his torso until they reached below his waist.

Leaning his head back, Naruto let another moan escape his lips as the girls hand caressed his manhood.

"Suki-chan I… I don't know anything about this sort of stuff," the boys mind was still cloudy and unfocused.

"It's alright Naruto-kun," She said, as one of her hands raised to his face, moving his face to the side so that a single cerulean orb was facing her. Leaning forward she placed a soft kiss on his lips, lingering for only second, before she pulled back, a kind smile across her face, "I'll teach you."

* * *

Naruto sighed as he slowly made his way back to his room wearing the given robes and a towel loosely slung over his shoulders. He was worn out from his 'activities' with Suki. The slightly older girl had proven very knowledgeable regarding said 'activities', and was quick to tutor the young blond. And the blond, true to his ninja life, proved to be a quick learner, much to the joy of Suki.

The boy entered his room, shutting the door gently behind him.

"You're back late gaki." A deep voice commented, causing Naruto to jump slightly.

"Ero-jiji! What're you doin waiting in my room you creepy old perv." The old man's brow twitched slightly at the dig.

"I was waiting on you," He said, contain obvious anger before sighing, "So why you back late?" He repeated.

A blush crept its way across Naruto's face, "I er was just in the bath,"

JIraiya studied his students face before grinning smugly, "I see, so you and Suki took some time to get to know each other?" His eyebrows wiggled in a comical manner.

"Pfft I don't know what you're talking about," the blond huffed indignantly, crossing his arms over his chest, unable to contain the red hue staining his cheeks.

"Cut it out brat, I know that walk,"

"What? What are you-"

"Yes! It is true!" Jiraiya stood from his seated position on the bed, pointing theatrically at the blond, "That is the walk of a man who has tasted the forbidden fruit, one who has ventured where all men wish to venture, one who has danced the vertical tango~. That my boy, is the walk of shame!"

…

…

…

"Shut up you old perv I wanna go to bed," Naruto walked passed the old man, who stood frozen in his pose, finger still thrust in front of him before he slumped his shoulders, arms falling down by his side.

"Aw common gaki just give me the details," he whined turning to face the boy who now lay face up on the bed arms and legs spread.

"I'm not telling you anything ero-jiji," the old man sighed dejectedly.

"Alright fine, but did you at least…" Naruto looked up at the man questioningly.

"What?" he questioned.

"You know…"

"What?"

Instead of answering the old sage raised his hands in front of him, touching the index finger and thumb of his right hand to make a ring before slowly moving the index finger of his left through said ring.

Naruto at first tilted his head in confusion before a metaphorical lightbulb went off in his head, prompting his face to burn a deep crimson

"Ew, ero-jiji quit it." He whined lying back placing his hands over his red features.

"Common, can't you tell me that at least?" Jiraiya asked slightly desperately.

"Fine fine jeez," the man looked down at Naruto expectantly, "Yes… we did,"

"OHHH YES!" Jiraiya shouted with a pump of his fist, "My little student has become a man! Oh it makes me proud to be your sensei!" At this point Naruto had adopted a deadpan stare, "Welcome to manhood Naruto my boy! We've been waiting! And on your birthday no less, this calls for a celebration!" he announced before turning on his heels and marching towards the door.

"Wait! Ero-jiji, you knew it was birthday?" Naruto asked now sat on the bed, legs crossed.

"Why of course, what kind of master would I be if I didn't even know my student's birthday?" He grinned a hearty grin.

The blond smiled, a small conserved smile. But a true smile as he looked up at his sensei, "I thought you forgot," He said with a slight laugh.

"No way~" Jiraiya waved his hand in front of his face, "There's no way I'd forget"

"But last year…" Naruto started.

"Last year unfortunately I had business to attend to, while I may be a hermit and your sensei, I'm still a shinobi of Konoha, I'm sorry though, if it makes a difference." the boy merely grinned in response.

"It's fine. Honestly. It's more than enough that you remembered this year."

The old man looked at the boy who he'd come to consider the son he never had for a short moment before laughing quietly to himself, "I was going to give you this later, after we celebrated but I think I'd rather give it to you now." He said, as he reached into his robe and pulled out a storage scroll. Quickly making the ram seal, and unfolding the parchment a small plume of smoke covered it before it wafted away revealing a medium sized box with a ribbon tied around it, "This is for you kid," Jiraiya hand Naruto the box and took a step back.

"Ero-jiji, you didn't have to get me anything," the blond said still looking down at the gift

"Shut up brat and just open the damn present," the old man reprimanded, the smile on his face never faltering, while Naruto pouted momentarily.

Hands trembling slightly undid the ribbon careful not tear the fabric. Once he'd finished he gently placed it to the side on the bed before lifting of the lid of the box.

He gasped slightly as he pulled out the item of clothing holding it out in front him.

It appeared to a dark blue, borderline black, battle kimono, similar to the one Jiraiya himself wore under his robe. It had a burnt orange spiral on the back and a smaller version on the left side of the chest on the front. It also had the same Uzu head plate Naruto had found in the ruins stitched eloquently onto the right arm. Looking back into the box he also saw a pair of geta sandals, again like the sage's.

"Ero-jiji what is all this?" The blond asked slightly in awe. The old man laughed scratching the back of his head.

"Well I figured since you're my student n all you should look the part you know?" The blond didn't reply, instead just gazing over the material in his hands.

Suddenly the blond jumped up and began stripping, "wow gaki what're you doing?" the man asked but the boy didn't reply, instead he began putting on the clothing given to him. As he pulled on the second sleeve a foxy grin formed on his face.

He looked over himself appraisingly, "This feels great Ero-jiji!" he beamed.

"I'm not surprised, that materials the best of the best. Highest grade shinobi mesh." Naruto looked up at the sage in shock.

"Jeez jiji you really splashed out huh?"

"Of course! Only the best for my number one student!"

"Also those sandals have gravity seals etched into them so you can increase and decrease the gravity intensity with a single seal." The blond's eyes started to water slightly as he looked up at his father figure.

"Thanks jiji, I mean it" the old man couldn't help the emotion welling inside of him yet chose to instead huff and cross his arms, unable to prevent the slight red on his cheeks.

"Pfft don't get all emotional on me brat!" the blond wiped his eyes on his sleeve and sniffled slightly, nodding his head, "Alright kid, let's go celebrate." The man moved forward and wrapped his arm around the blond's shoulder, "it's time for part two of becoming a man, which involves you becoming acquainted with a very special friend."

"Who?" the blond asked looking up at the man who grinned, raising his hand, palm facing outwards, and dragging it to the side grandiosely.

"Sake."

* * *

Yo thanks for reading, this chapter in all honesty felt like more of a filler to me and i was considering adding an extra bit on the end but decided to get it out now. The next chapter should be up soonish and will probably be Naruto's introduction to Kumo and a little on Kurotsuchi.

Don't forget to review and favourite and follow n all that if you're feelin it.

Ciao.


	7. Chapter 7

Yo! I'm back! Sorry for the long wait, i don't really have an excuse and i do feel bad, especially all the nice reviews people have posted. As for why im so delayed in posting, i just got a bad sense of writer bock and then got mixed up in coursework and exams. Sorry nonetheless!

Anyway, just a pre-chapter warning, this one i think really earns the story its M rating. So prepare yourselves and enjoy :)

* * *

"Oi Kurotsuchi stop daydreaming and hurry up!" a happy male voice called, braking the girl out of her daze. The voice who'd called her belonged to a large teenage boy who wore a dusty red flak jacket, accompanied by red trousers with a dark yellow scarf. The head plate embelished with the Iwa emblem was stitched onto a red bandanna he wore on his head. He had beady black eyes and a bulbous nose slightly redder than the rest of his face.

"Yeah yeah alright," She huffed, as she turned to follow the larger boy.

"You sure have been spacing out a lot recently Kurotsuchi." He commented, remaining facing forwards, an amicable smile on his face.

"Really?" the girl answered rhetorically. The boy hummed in response.

"It wouldn't have anything to do with that Konoha kid you met now would it?" the faintest of blushes crossed Kurotsuchi's cheeks before she subdued it, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"What? No! I wish I'd never told you about that." The boy merely kept his smile in response.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! God damnnit Akatsuchi would you shut up already." Akatsuchi didn't rise to the flare of anger from his female companion instead choosing to give her a knowing look before returning to his happy-go-lucky façade, "Ugh, let's just go meet the old man." Kurotsuchi jumped forward suddenly and began hopping over roof tops towards a large building in the centre of the village. Akatsuchi waited a second before following her.

When they entered the building, Kurotsuchi received the standard treatment. Overly pleasant smiles and false niceties. Of course she was used to it by now. Being the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, she'd lived with this treatment for her whole life. Not that she could complain or anything. Some people definitely had it worse. A certain blond came to mind for one.

During their short time together they'd talked about their friends and families and opened up quite a bit. More so than Kurotsuchi would like to admit. After all, she didn't exactly have a reputation for being open emotionally. But nonetheless, the blond had managed to get her to talk about herself, somehow or other. She couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt remembering how she'd talked about her family and childhood for nearly an hour, only to ask about Naruto's and find out he had no family, except for the distantly related Hokage that is, and his childhood was, well, tough to say the least.

Frowning slightly to herself, she thought back to Akatsuchi's comments earlier. While she did admit she liked the blond when she met him. It irked her slightly at how often her mind seemed to wonder in his direction. She, an Iwa shinobi, granddaughter of the Tsuchikage, respected and feared as a prodigy and possessor of the Yoton kekkei genkei was hung up on some kid. And a Konoha shinobi no less. The fact that the two had been exchanging letters the past months didn't help her cause, however, she had convinced herself it was just a means of staying cordial with a distant friend. Despite the rather intimate kiss they'd shared.

Sighing in frustration she realised she'd reached the door to the Tsuchikage's office and proceeded to clear her head and knocked resolutely.

Upon hearing a faint call for her to enter, she open the door and walked in, eyes talking in the mounds of paperwork heaped on the desk.

"Sup gramps, struggling with the paperwork as ever I see," she commented with a smirk as her gaze fell upon the old man sat on the chair behind the desk.

The man himself was considerably short. He had balding white hair that was pulled from the sides of his head and tied into a short ponytail tied with a dark yellow ribbon. He wore a strange robe that consisted of a red upper part that covered his shoulders and upper chest with a red trim, and flowed down further in four separate strands, all coloured green with the same golden trim along the edges.

The old man looked up before grunting, "And as rude as ever I see Kurotsuchi," he leant back in his chair turning his head to the side, "young people these days. Not a shred of respect for their elders."

"Yeah yeah whatever old man, why don't you just hand over the hat already?" her smirk widening.

"I'm not that old yet brat, and you still got a long way to go," he retorted matching his granddaughters smirk.

Before Kurotsuchi could reply however, another knock sounded at the other side of the door before the head of Akatsuchi popped its way around the partially open door.

"Hope you don't mind the intrusion Tsuchikage-sama, I heard you two arguing so I figured it was okay to come in." he said, his ever present smile beaming.

"Yes yes come in Akatsuchi." The boy nodded before opening the door fully, closing it behind him and walking in next to his teammate.

"So what did ya call us for old man, some kinda high-ranked classified mission?" Kurotsuchi asked hopefully, face lighting up at the prospect.

"Hmpf, like I'd trust you kids with a mission of that calibre," the girl pouted, "but this is an important task nonetheless," the girl's face lit up, "recently we've heard reports that the Akatsuki are become increasingly mobile in the their hunt of the jinchuriki."

"But gramps, haven't we hired them before?" the old man frowned.

"This is true, however initially they were merely a powerful mercenary group, reasonably priced too, however with the edition of our own traitor Deidera, and their recent movements, I've decided to start to taking them seriously, in order to protect our own jinchuriki,"

"So what do you want us to do?" Akatsuchi spoke for the first time.

"I have heard reports that Jiraiya of the Sannin has been spotted travelling through lightening country with his apprentice, and when it comes to the Akatsuki, he seems to be well learned. Your mission is to intercept them and deliver this scroll requesting an exchange of information."

"As much as I don't like the idea of working with Konoha, why aren't we just going to the village if we want information?" Kurotsuchi asked, scrunching her brow.

The old man clicked his tongue and muttered something about talking back to elders before answering, "If you just waltzed into Konoha asking for information, for one you might not even get let in, two, if you are let in, those dogs could take too long to consider the offer and worst case scenario they might even imprison you, we're not on the best of terms with Konoha still after all."

"Alright alright you didn't have to give us a lecture jeez," Kurotsuchi mumbled under her breath.

"So where are we intercepting Jiraiya, Tsuchikage-sama? Akatsuchi asked, sensing the tension building between the two relatives.

Onoki managed to tear his glare away from his granddaughter before glancing at Akatsuchi and sighing.

"All the details should in this scroll here," the old man suddenly began looking around his desk, "ah where did I put that thing." Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi promptly sweat dropped at the old man's clumsiness, "ah there it is!" he proclaimed, spotting the scroll down on the floor to the side, reaching down with a triumphant grin. That is until a loud crack echoed throughout the room, causing the Kage to fall onto the floor with a pained yell.

"Gramps!" "Tsuchikage-sama!"

* * *

"Ne, ero-jiji when will we reach Kumo? Feels like we've been going for ageees," Naruto complained, drawling his words as the master/student made their way through the less mountainous regions of lightening country.

"I've already told you kid, we've got pit stops on the way, I'm not Konoha's go to spymaster for nothing you know!" the old man replied.

The blond didn't respond, choosing to grumble incoherently instead. Since Naruto's birthday they'd been slowly making their way to Kumogakure, much to the ire of the young blond. Recently he'd hit a wall with the space-time fuinjutsu basics that Jiraiya had gave him. He was at the latter end of grasping it however he just wasn't quite there. To be honest, he didn't even know why the old man wanted him to go over them anyway. He hadn't even heard of any space-time techniques except the summoning jutsu. Well that and of course the famous Hiraishin of the Yondaime Hokage, but there's no way he could ever dream of learning a technique like that. Not only did he not have the scroll on how to learn as it was probably locked up somewhere but to actually learn it also. It seemed too much.

So in the slump he was in, Naruto decided to take a break from his fuinjustu studies and instead opted for a more mature pass time. Whining.

"Common ero-jiji can't you teach me somethin cool please?"

"Would you cut it out gaki, I've already given you a few wind jutsu as well as a couple of earth ones. Ain't that enough?" the old man retorted, slightly exasperated.

"More's also better though! Common, how about one of those toad jutsus, I don't know any of them!" the blond continued causing Jiraiya to stop and glance at the boy. After all he did have a point. Despite the toad sage having improved Naruto's speed, strength along with his taijutsu and increased his ninjutsu repertoire, plus the addition in the chakra chains, he had yet to show any of the signature toad summons jutsu. He did have a contract with the toads to be fair. And no doubt the traitorous snake would be teaching the Uchiha some of the snake summons jutsu.

"Alright kid, that's too bad of an idea," the man said, stopping and looking around, "I think here will do just fine." He proceeded to take of his travelling bag and face the blond, who placed his bag down also, "Now we just gotta work out what to teach you." The sage scratched his chin in contemplation as he consider the different techniques he could teach his student.

He could teach the boy some application techniques like his hiding in a toad technique or his toad transformation technique however torture and espionage weren't really the blond's forte. Although on the other hand it would do him good to learn them just in case… Although now he thought about it, with the blond's capability with shadow clones, he could learn the toad's number one offensive collaboration jutsu all by himself! Also, Jiraiya was sure the boy would be content and willing if learning an offensive jutsu rather than an applicable one.

Nodding to himself, the old man locked eyes with the blond, "Right gaki I've figured out what jutsu I'm gonna teach you."

"Cool, is it some badass explosive jutsu!?" the blond commented in his child-like excitement.

"No brat it's-" he paused momentarily, as if slightly confused, "actually, yeah it is!" he said grinning.

"Yes! Thanks ero-jiji you won't regret it!" the man laughed slightly and the blond's enthusiasm before going into lecture mode.

"Alright now, the jutsu I'm going to be teaching you is normally a collaboration jutsu, however I figured with your use of shadow clones you could pull it off by yourself." He stopped, making sure the boy was paying attention, "The jutsu is called Katon: Gamayuu Endan or Toad Flame Bomb and relies on the combination of the Gamayudan (Toad Oil Bomb), and pretty much any Katon jutsu. In addition, I figured you could use your Fūton: Daitoppa is order to increase the power of the flames, since your Katon affinity is relatively weak due to your high Futon affinity, you with me so far?" The blond nodded eagerly in response.

"So where do I start?" Naruto asked inquisitively.

"Firstly, you need to learn the toad style jutsu Gamayudan, which normally is a supplementary technique, " the man, turned to face the slightly barren tree line at the side of the path, "it only takes the ram seal to pull off however requires some slightly tricky manipulation of the chakra." He then proceeded to make the ram seal, take a deep breath and the exhale, causing a torrent of thick dark brown oil to spill from the man's mouth, covering the area it was aimed at.

Jiraiya then turned to face the blond again, "the only difficult part of this jutsu is the conversion of chakra to oil, however, the key to that is imagination." He proclaimed with dramatic effect.

"Imagination? Whadya mean ero-jiji?"

"Work it out yourself brat, i'm off to find somewhere to drink!" the blond's face soured and he opened his mouth to retort, "and don't me any of that "you're supposed to be training me crap kid", if I were to just spoon feed you everything you'd never get anywhere. After all, success is not a destination, but rather the road you take to get there." Naruto's eyes widened slightly at the meaning of the quote, before they narrowed accusingly.

"Oi ero-jiji who'd you copy that line off?"

"Pfft what you talking about brat?" he huffed crossing his arms, eyes shifting to the side.

"There's no way you could've come up with something as deep and meaningful as that, you write porn for Kami's sake!"

"I so could come up if with a quote like that! And it's not porn its art in its most raw and sensual form!"

"Fine so it's artsy porn!" Naruto grinned, a triumphant grin.

"For the love of-" Jiraiya placed his head in his hands, seemingly take a time out in order to cool down.

Watching the man with a curious expression, Naruto heard faint mumbling emanating from beneath his father-figure's hands before he slid his hands off his face and slapped his cheeks once, "alright brat, I need to find someplace where I can get me a drink. Work on that and I'll be back… well I'll be back some time or another." The man proceeded to pick up his back and wonder back down the path, all the while mumbling under his breath something about annoying brats and sweet self-assurances that his literature wasn't smut.

Shaking his head with a laugh, the blond fixed his hands into the ram seal and took a deep breath, moulding chakra into his lungs. Going on what the sage said about imagination, he imagined his chakra becoming oil as he manipulated it.

After a second he realised nothing had happened and so concentrated more chakra into his lungs and focused even more on the thought of it becoming oil.

Just as he thought he was getting somewhere, Naruto was hit with a wave of nausea. Eyes bulging, cheeks inflating, Naruto did something he'd never once done before (to his knowledge) in his life. He threw up. It wasn't just bile, but thick oil. He was throwing up oil.

After a few moments of gagging and a dozen spits later, Naruto rose shakily from his hands and knees and wiped his mouth roughly with his sleeve. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

In a tree nearby, a certain sage sat snickering quietly to himself. Payback never felt so good.

* * *

"Katon: Gamayuu Endan" , "Fūton: Daitoppa!" A trio of voices shouted before unleashing a torrent of oil fuelled flames, fanned by a powerful gust of wind. The jutsu barrelled its way across the slightly barren clearing scorching the ground it its wake until it collided with a small cliff face causing an explosion to rocket outwards.

Standing a way off, Jiraiya raised his eyebrows. An impressed expression plastered across his face. He knew that the boy would be able to pull off the jutsu with relative ease due to his large reserves but to perform it to such an extent.

Looking over to the blond, he noticed the two Kage Bunshins accompanying him had already dispelled and the boy himself was sat on the rough floor, legs spread out in front of him propped up on his arms.

"That sure was impressive kid, I knew you'd be able to get it down but that was still a big show." He commented.

Naruto calmed his breathing momentarily before replying, "Heh thanks ero-jiji, I told you I'd get it," He then flopped down onto his back, "Saying that though… I put too much chakra into that" The old man raised a single eyebrow inquisitively, bordering surprise.

"You're out of chakra?" the blond looked up at the man for a moment before looking back up at the sky.

"No no I got a lot more in the tank," he waved his hand pathetically before letting it fall back to the ground, "it's just that my control over Katon and the Gamayudan isn't good enough yet so I had to overload it, and the sudden decrease in chakra kinda hit me hard. Even if do have over half left." The old man nodded in understanding.

"Well now you got the jutsu down, all that's left is for you to practice each segment individually until it becomes more chakra efficient." Naruto nodded in agreement.

"You got it ero-jiji," he sat up, stretching his arms out above him before looking around the clearing "ne, how far from Kumo are we?"

"Hmm, I'd say a week or so's walk," he replied, before adopting a frown, "It wouldn't take as long however we gotta go a slightly indirect route due to me meeting my contacts."

The blond nodded in understanding, "I can't wait to get there and finally do this sword justice," he looked over to where the two's bags were placed, the elegant sheathed blade resting against the larger of the two.

"I know I know." He looked down at the blond appreciatively, in the last year Naruto had become a lot more calm and understanding when it came to these sort of matters. A testament to his growing maturity, "Alright kid, five minutes rest and then we'll head out to the next town."

The blond grinned brightly up at the old man, "Hai, jiji!"

Jiraiya plopped himself down next to Naruto and the two sat in relative silence, simply content to just listen to the sounds of nature.

After five or so minutes, Naruto and Jiraiya gathered their belongings and began their leisurely walk to the next town. Sure the two could spring there with relative ease however they were in no rush so opted against it.

It was mid-afternoon when the pair strolled into the quant town. Its outskirts were dotted with traditional family houses and children played in the streets while the elderly sat out in the shade. As they entered the town centre, the paved streets became more clustered as locals rushed about their business.

Making their way to a reasonably priced inn the two checked in and dumped their stuff off in their room.

"Alright, I'm gonna go meet my contact… you do, well you can do whatever." The older man commented with a wave of his hand as he exited the building and strolled off down the road. Naruto responded with a non-committed grunt before stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Hmm might as well get some training in then," he said aloud before walking off in the opposite direction that his sensei had walked.

Quickly leaving the heart of the town, Naruto found himself in a relatively secluded clearing, shielded from the village by a thick wall of large trees alike to a strip of tropical forestry.

"Man this is perfect" he said with a whistle, looking around. He then proceeded to remove a scroll from within his kimono top and sat down against one of the trees. The scroll included details on the kenjutsu style he was hoping to grasp better when in Kumo. So far his progress had been somewhat stunted as Jiraiya only new the basics of kenjutsu and the style had proven to be tricky to decipher. Unfurling the scroll, he began to look over laijutsu (drawing techniques) he was currently working on. Well 'currently working' was a stretch. With the all the travelling, ninjutsu and fuinjutsu Naruto didn't have much time to work with his sword, however when he did practice, this was what he was working on.

Glancing over the forms shown in the scroll and the description, Naruto nodded to himself resolutely before standing up and observing the trees above him. Noticing a suitably thick branch on a particular tree, Naruto unsheathed his sword and in one fluid motion, leapt into the air and sliced it at its base.

He landed silently and awaiting for the deep thud and snapping of smaller twigs of the branch as they collided with the floor. Naruto then cut the branch again with a single slice a little further from the base, so that the piece of wood was now roughly the same length as him. After de-twigging the log, the blond picked it up and placed it vertically at one end of the clearing, before giving it a chakra enhanced palm thrust on the top to secure it into the ground. He stepped back, eyeing the now makeshift practice dummy appraisingly with a nod.

Standing opposite the dummy, Naruto placed a single hand on the handle of his sword which was strapped horizontally across his lower back and settled into his stance. Both legs bent, his left foot facing forward in front and his right foot back and facing to his right. His left arm bent at the elbow across his lower torso, tensed guardedly and slightly forward.

Closing his eyes, Naruto was about to begin his practice before he heard a rustling in the bushes at the base of the trees at the edge of the clearing on the side of the town. Frowning inwardly, Naruto made no outward reaction that he'd noticed the presence.

Honing his senses, Naruto was able to pick up the scent of 2 or 3 people, however that was the limit of what he could pick up from smell alone. That is before a soft, high-pitched voice reached his sensitive ears.

"Quiet you baka! He'll hear us!" it said, in a scolding tone. Naruto heard what sounded like a faint whine from the other counterpart.

"But Mimi-chan he's got a sword! What if he cuts us with it?" Naruto chuckled slightly as he relaxed his tensed muscles.

"Don't be such a wimp Aomaru. There's no way he could hear us! We're Goji village's ninja trio!" a third, more masculine but still young voice butt in.

This time Naruto had to actively restrain the grin that was threatening to curve his lips as he kept is neutral façade externally as the three kids continued to argue, blissfully unaware that the victim of their spy-work was listening in on every word.

"Tsk, kids" Naruto muttered to himself as a hint of a grin broke out onto his face, "might as well give them a show." Taking a deep breath, Naruto collected and calmed his now more erratic thoughts and blocked out the background noise of the children, instead focusing on the sounds of the forest. Paying especially close attention to the wind as it rustled its way through the grass and leaves in the trees.

Suddenly, faster that the children, who had now switched their attention to the blond, could follow, Naruto dashed forward off his left leg, sending up a small plume of leafs where his feet had pushed off the ground.

The children, wide eyed let out an involuntary gasp as they lost sight of their target.

"Look!" the one called Aomaru, suddenly whispered loudly, pointing past the upright log.

Naruto had reappeared behind the dummy with his blade, seemingly only drawn by an inch or so. Confusing the children even more. The blond then began to slowly re-sheath the blade leaving them wondering, for a second, just if he'd actually done anything.

Then, with the melodic click that paired with Naruto fully sheathing his sword, a diagonal cut showed itself across the width of the log, before the upper half slowly slipped to the side and fell to the ground with an ungraceful thud.

"Sugo-!" Mimi proclaimed before Aomaru clamped his hand over the girl's mouth.

"Shhh he'll hear us!" The boy hushed, eyes still glued on the blond.

Naruto allowed himself a full grown smirk as he listened the children's praise, even though the jutsu itself had been pretty simple in kenjutsu terms, in the eyes of a kid, it must've looked damn impressive. And hey, it's not such a bad thing to hear praise every now and again, right?

"Oi what's he smiling about?" the unnamed youngster asked, all three's gaze still locked on the blond.

"Dunno, looks kinda stupid though, smilin' for no reason." Mimi replied, before either of the other two could respond however the trio froze as a voice spoke from behind them.

"Aw I thought I looked quite cool, judging by you three's reaction, you must've too, no?" the three spun out of their crouches all landing on their rears with a squeal as they shuffled back from the suspect voice, eyes wide with fear.

Fear, however, quickly turned to confusion as they looked back into the clearing and observed another blond, identical to the one who'd appeared behind them, standing with a foxy grin giving them a cheeky wave.

"Wh-ha but you're there. How can you be here?" Mimi stuttered as she looked between the two blonds.

Naruto merely chuckled in response before pointing at own face from his crouched position, "Ninja." He said with a grin as the trios eyes lit up.

Naruto then pointed to his clone in the clearing and as the children's eyes landed on it copy burst in a plume of smoke.

"Sugoi! Can you teach me that?" The boy on the far left of the trio said with stars in his eyes. He had short spiky brown hair and his eyes seemed constantly squinted. He wore simple brown shorts with a white t-shirt.

Naruto chuckled to himself as the other two nodded in agreement, "Sorry mina, the technique requires a little too much chakra for you guys." He said with an apologetic grin.

The three promptly pouted in canon, before Mimi spoke, "Yosh, I've decided!" she announced before standing up and looking down at the blond, "You're gonna take us on as your students"

All three heads swivelled to look at the girl, her pigtails bobbing slightly as she nodded her head, arms crossed.

Naruto however merely sweatdropped at the scene, "I'm gonna what?"

"We're gonna be your students!"

"Are you now?" The blond grinned, standing up and crossing his arms while looking the three over.

"Yep!" Mimi retorted, sounding more than confident.

"Well, you don't have to ninja-san" the one who he assumed was Aomaru managed, reminding the teen of a certain pale-eyed girl back home.

"What? Aomaru! I wanna be taught to!" The squinty-eyed boy exclaimed.

"I agree with Popo-kun, you gotta teach us!" the girl shouted with renewed vigour.

"Mimi! I told ya not to call me Popo!" The boy named Popo then turned, blushing slightly.

"But you're Popo! Popo is Popo!" She replied with a tilt of her head.

"But that's not even my name!" He then stepped forward, a vein showing on his forehead.

"Um, I don't think Popo is that a bad name." Aomaru intervened, causing Mimi to nod and slap the quiet boy hard on the back while Popo raved.

Meanwhile, Naruto watched the trio with a strange fascination, the kids reminded him of Konohamaru and his little triplet of ninja hopefuls. Eventually however the senseless arguing got a bit much for the young Uzumaki.

"Alright, enough!" He exclaimed raising his voice slightly causing the three to turn in his direction, "Why do you kids wanna be ninja anyway!"

"Cause ninja are cool!"

"I wanna breathe fire!"

"Umm… cause Popo-san and Mimi-chan want to?" Aomaru finished trailing off after the other two's shout.

Naruto shook his head in mirth, if anything the louder two reminded the teen of a younger him, but surely not as bad. There's no way he could have been that bad.

"Well I suppose those are good reasons…" The three nodded excitedly, their eyes widening, "But I'm still not gonna teach you." He finished with a slight smirk.

"Wha-why not!" Mimi gawked.

"Mmm I don't feel like it."

"You don't feel like it!?" The girl echoed loudly.

"Common ninja-san! We need training!" Popo whined exasperated prompting the blond to raise a single eyebrow.

"Oh you need to train do you? Why's that?" This time it was Aomaru who answered, however his voice wavered so much that no one understood what he said, why'll still drawing everyone's attention, "what was that?"

"I said… we need to train so we can protect the village." The boy all but whispered, seemingly shrinking under the gaze of the others.

Naruto's grin fell into a soft smile before he crouched down so that they were all slightly taller than him, "You wanna protect the village huh?" the boy nodded, slightly more confidently this time, "and you two feel the same way!"

"Course!" "Hai!"

"Hmm… well I'm not going to be in the village for long but…" the trio leant forward in anticipation, but jumped back when the teen suddenly stood up, "Yosh! I've decided," he looked over the kids once more before grinning, "Meet me here tomorrow at 9 in the morning," he then turned and began walking away, "And don't be late!" he said, smiling over his shoulder.

"Wait! Ninja-san you didn't tell us your name!" Mimi shouted after him, however before she could finish the blond disappeared in a flurry of leafs, leaving the three alone in a content silence.

* * *

"Gah Naruto-sensei you're late again!" An indignant shout came from the clearing as the blond leisurely strolled forwards.

"Sorry mina, I got lost on the meandering road that is life," he grinned as Mimi stormed up to him.

"Again with the excuses! I woulda thought ninjas were all proper and on time and stuff! But you're always late!" She began, as the blond cleared his ear with his pinky.

"It's too early for all this noise, quiet down would ya?" he said before yawning.

"It's the afternoon!" the girl retorted angrily before continuing another rant.

"Afternoon, Aomaru." Naruto asked as he turned his attention to the blue-haired boy sat cross-legged under a tall tree.

"Morning sensei" the boy looked up from his book and smiled lightly.

"How's the reading going?"

"Good, I'm already half-way through! And it's my second one!" He replied in a quiet excitement, holding his book up to show his progress.

"That's great," Naruto smiled heartily, before casting a quick glance to the still ranting Mimi then looking around the clearing, "Where's Popo?"

The boy looked around uncertainly, "Um… I think he may still be out practicing his traps."

Naruto nodded understandingly before turning to address Mimi, "Ne, can you go find Popo and bring him here?"

"Huh? Why me?" The girl suddenly questioned, slightly out of breath from having been talking for so long.

"Cause I asked you to," he replied, causing the girl to frown, "please Mimi-chan?" she opened her mouth to speak before blushing slightly and turning her head away from the teen.

"W-w-well fine, but I need to speak to him anyway, so-yeah!" she said stuttering and then ran off to find the boy.

Naruto sighed in exasperation before sitting cross-legged on the floor near Aomaru. The past week had been interesting for the young Uzumaki. He'd never taught anyone before, besides Konohamaru anyway, and the kids were definitely eager to learn. He had begun their training by teaching them some basic taijutsu katas, mostly just what he could remember from the academy style. Naturally, there was a limit to what they could learn in a week, especially kids with no previous experience, so he made sure to keep it relatively rudimentary. Out of the three however, Mimi interestingly seemed to shine the best in close combat. Her loud and in-your-face personality seemed to translate to her taijutsu, resulting in a relentless brawler-like style. Popo seemed to be the mid-way point of the three. While he enjoyed getting up close and personal, he knew when to back off slightly and create space where Mimi didn't. And Aomaru, well Aomaru only served to remind Naruto more and more of a Hyuuga he knew well back home. He preferred to stay back completely, adopting a reactive approach.

Naruto also taught the three each an individual aspect of a ninja's repertoire. For Mimi, he taught her the basics of kenjutsu, but using a stick. No matter how much she'd protested, he wasn't to let her at his sword. Popo seemed to take to the underhanded list of skills a ninja can possess, so Naruto decided to teach him about traps and hunting. Finally, Aomaru rather unsurprisingly was perfectly content to read books about botany. He'd taken an interest in plants, both for medical uses and poisonous ones. Needless to say Naruto was a bit deterred that the boy could so casually and innocently read about plants that if prepared right could kill you in five minutes but then again, he supposed he'd learnt about killing people that young so hey, what the hell.

Naruto was broke out off his musings as Mimi and Popo came waking into the clearing breaking. Engaged in an animated conversation, arms and hands gesturing wildly they butted heads in contest.

"Alright alright break it up you two, I have something I need to talk to you about." Naruto interrupted, a faint smile on his face.

The friends were barely able to stop their glares at one another but managed to sit down in a huff to the right of Aomaru.

"What's this all about anyway Naruto-sensei? I was just telling Mimi-baka here that there's no way she could beat me in a fight." Popo crossed his arms and shot Mimi a look out of the corner of his eye.

"What! I so could beat you, teme!" the girl threw back, her face red and eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah yeah whatever," Popo shrugged looking away.

"Why you-!"

"Enough! For the love of kami I'm starting to feel like Kaka-sensei…" Naruto managed, using two fingers to massage his temple, "Look the reason I wanna talk to you all is because I'm leaving today."

The three kids paused, slightly their jaws dropping slightly in shock before they unleashed a collective chorus of complaints and shouts. Well, except for Aomaru, who just seemed to sit their looking a little upset.

"But Naruto-sensei, you can't go! We've got so much training to do!" Mimi cried, her face a mix of anger and sadness.

"Yea and you said you'd show me how to make a double spring trap," Popo followed, looking more betrayed than anything.

"And what about the plants…" Aomaru added after a short pause. God damn that boy and his innocence.

"Look, you guys know I'm a shinobi right?" Naruto began in an attempt to placate the kids. The three nodded in hesitantly. "Well as a shinobi I have duties, and at the moment, I'm on a training mission with my sensei, who is also a top spy and information gatherer, so I have to keep on the move," he took in the three expressions before him, "I just, gotta go."

Mimi cast her gaze down to her lap, her lower lip wobbling while Popo looked away in a huff, his eyes watering slightly. Aomaru wore a quiet, sombre look, as if understanding and accepting Naruto's reasons completely.

Naruto felt a pang in his chest as he watched the kids' reactions. Never before had he had people so emotionally invested in himself. Sure the Konohamaru trio had been upset, Sakura might have felt something, and maybe the rest of the rookie nine were a little sad to see him go? But this wasn't the same.

The blond sighed and ran a hand through his hair before grinning and jumping to his feet, "Yosh! I don't wanna see those said faces anymore!" he shouted, adopting his trademark fox-like grin. The three children looked up at him, eyes slightly red and wide, "I'm gonna continue on my training trip and get a whole lot stronger, and I want you guys to do the exact same! I'm not sure when I'm gonna be back here but when I am, I wanna see you all training harder and as a strong as ever, believe it!"

The trio's expression's softened as they all mumbled something incoherent, Mimi with her lip still trembling, a slight shine to in her eye, Popo wiping his eyes and smirking, and Aormaru grinning a true smile.

"What was that? I didn't hear ya?" Naruto question, cupping a hand behind his ear comically.

"Hai Sensei"" "Hai Naruto-sensei!" "Hai Naru-sensei!" the three shouted.

Naruto grinned in spite of himself, feeling a warmth build up in his chest, as his three students then barraged him with questions on his future training.

* * *

"So did ya have fun?" the old man asked, looking over his shoulder at the blond.

"Huh? Whaddya mean?" Naruto asked, lifting a single eyebrow.

"Don't play dumb boy, I'm asking if you had fun with your little students." Jiraiya let out a rumbling laugh as he continued down the path.

"Oh," Naruto laughed sheepishly, "yeah I suppose, I didn't know you were watching though Sensei, what happened with your informants?"

"Well I had a little time in between tracking them down so I thought I'd stop by." He adopting a mock serene expression, "imagine my surprise when a see my brat of a student has taken on three little brats of his own."

Naruto grumbled in response, not trusting himself to reply curtly.

"Anyway, isn't that one of them now?" The old man asked, nodding his head behind the boy.

"Huh?" Naruto turned slightly and saw a tired looking Mimi running towards the two, a large bag on her back.

"Naru-Sensei!" she shouted waving, a large grin on her face.

Naruto watched her, his tilted head slightly, only to sigh has the girl tripped on a small rock and face-planted on the ground, her large backpack almost engulfing her whole body.

Jiraiya let out another large bellied laugh, "Go to her brat, I'll be waiting up the path," he said before walking away, talking to himself about another clumsy young idiot.

Naruto muttered something incoherent in response and approached the now prone girl. He crouched in front of her, watching in amusement as she tried to stand up with the weight of the massive bag on her back.

"What are you doing Mimi?"

"Ah! Naru-sensei! I'm coming with you on your trip!" she shouted a muffled shout in response. Naruto sighed and grabbed her bag by the arm straps and lifted her up to a standing position. The girl straightened up as if she'd never fell in the first place, "And I won't take no for an answer!"

"No." the boy replied, looking the girl in the eyes.

"But Naru-sensei I-" she began, eyes frantic and wide.

"No buts Mimi, I can't take you with me, it's too dangerous" He watched her for a moment, "and besides, what about Popo and Aomaru, do you really want to leave them on their own?"

"Well no… But Naru-sensei they'll be alright they've got each other and their families and stuff!" she replied, slightly frantically.

Naruto looked the girl in the eyes and felt a small sadness consume him. He'd learnt over the week he'd spent in the small village that Mimi lived alone with her uncle and aunt who were always away on business. They ran a small merchant company. According to Popo and Aomaru, her parents had died when she was only two; mountain bandits if he recalled correctly. Looking at the small girl in front of him it was hard not to see a reflection of his younger self. Friends and acquaintances could only go so far to fill a void created by a loss of or absence of loved ones. It's the small things, like being scolded for coming home late or told that you did something well by someone that cares that he missed out on, and when without create that void known as loneliness.

"Look, Mimi-chan, I know what it feels like, to feel alone, trust me I do." The girl's eyes softened as she looked down at her feet, "but if you leave now who's gonna protect Goji village when mean bullies start stealing the other kids' sweets? The Goji village ninja trio certainly isn't a trio if you're not there, is it?" the girl didn't react so he continued, "Or who's gonna keep the boys from getting into trouble? Huh? Like when Aomaru spaces out and gets lost while walking or when Popo accidently picks a fight with some older kids?" The girl shrugged, turning her head to the side averting her eyes.

"You are! You big idiot!" he scolded softly, "now I'm not gonna pretend it's easy, but you know what the best trait a shinobi can have is?" the girl shook her head, her short locks flicking against her damp cheeks, "it's being able to get up and keep going no matter what. To pick yourself up and get stronger, so no one can tell you didn't try, or that you weren't good enough? Alright?"

The girl nodded, sniffling slightly.

"Alright." Naruto repeated while standing up, a smile etched on his face as he looked down at the girl.

Suddenly Mimi rushed forward and engulfed the blond in a hug, her face pressed against his stomach, prompting him to let out a small laugh. Placing one hand on the back of her shoulder and the other resting on her head, stroking her hair slowly he returned the hug, realising how few times he had actually hugged another person, regardless of their age.

"I'll miss you," came quiet voice from below him.

"I'll miss you too, Mimi-chan." He replied softly.

After a short silence, she looked up at him through red swollen eyes "Ne, Naru-sensei," the girl started before pausing slightly, seemingly struggling with something, "can I… can I call you nii-chan?"

The boy's eyes went wide in shock momentarily, before easing, a small smile tugging at his lips "sure thing kid,"

* * *

Now, no one would ever say that Uzumaki Naruto was a hard person to impress, but nevertheless, as the Sensei-student duo approached the gates of Kumogakure, he couldn't help but marvel at the enormity of it. The walk there had taken roughly three days from Goji village (at a leisurely pace that is) and quickly did the lush green countryside turn to rocky mountainous terrain. The inclining path to the gate was a mountain ridge, wide enough so that large groups of merchants and visitors could pass without endangering themselves but perilous nonetheless. Either side of the ridge thin veils of cloud obscured distant rocky mountains with only a few patches of blue shining through. The air was thin and Naruto realised what an advantage that must be for Kumo shinobi when defending against attacks. Anyone who wasn't used to the altitude would surely find themselves running out of breath and light headed sooner than they normally would.

The gate itself was relatively simple, reminiscent of Konoha's own gate in fact, except for having a dark blue steel hue to it instead of the burgundy wooden tone Konoha's gate embellished. Within the gate a smaller door seemed to be cut out and stood open for visitors. While smaller than the impressive gates, the door was still large enough to let most caravans through, most likely for merchant access. Two Kumo shinobi stood by the smaller door, one sat behind a counter which seemed to be part of the gate itself and the other in front, guarding the door and ushering visitors, not that there were any at this time.

As the pair approached Naruto noticed the guards draw their gaze onto them and tense. No doubt they looked indefinitely like ninja, and if he didn't look imposing with his sword strapped to his back and his battle kimono then Jiraiya's towering presence definitely did.

"Name and reason for visiting," the guard grunted, eyes apprehensively flickering to Jiraiya and back to the blond.

The man in question simply grinned, his eyes retaining a steely hardness, "Jiraiya of the Sannin and my apprentice Uzumaki Naruto, we've come to see your Raikage."

The guard and his comrade behind the desk's eyes widened as he took a step back, his hand edging slightly towards his kunai pouch, whereas the other stood up, and manoeuvred around the counter, his hands poised and ready to perform seals.

"Now now there's no need for violence," Naruto grinned to himself at the older man's tone, "if we were here to fight, well, you'd already be dead."

The guard suddenly reached for his kunai pouch, cursing to himself as the other began running through hand seals. Neither of the Konoha party moved.

"ENOUGH!" came a shout from behind the two kumo shinobi prompting them to stiffen, kunai drawn and jutsu ready, "these two are meant to be visiting and I'm sure if you idiots took the time to look you'd find their names on the visiting list."

The pair turned as a kunoichi approached them. Appearing to be in her early twenties, she had sandy blond hair, which was swept over her forehead, partially covering her hitai-ate. She adorned a short-sleeve black top with a purple plate-armour midsection and had bandaging wrapped around her forearms. A red sash was tied around her waist and her trousers were black also with a cloud pattern at the bottom of the left leg.

"Ah Nii Yugito, I presume?" Jiraiya greeted, completely bypassing the two guards.

The kunoichi narrowed her eyes and nodded slightly, "Jiraiya of the Sannin, your reputation as an information specialist precedes you."

The Sannin laughed loudly causing both blond's eyebrows to twitch, "you hear that brat, told ya I'm famous."

Naruto frowned in exasperation, "yeah famous for being a pervert." The man's laughter stopped as he cuffed the boy round the back of his head.

"Damn it brat don't embarrass your master."

"Hai hai…" he drawled out, "ero-sannin…"

"Why you-" The man started before he was interrupted by a courteous cough from the Kumo kunoichi.

"You are Jiraiya-sama's apprentice I take it?" she questioned, her dark eyes locking onto his own.

"Err yea?" Naruto managed, slightly startled by the question.

"Nii Yugito," she said formally, with a small dip of the head.

Naruto paused momentarily, not sure quite what to say before Jiraiya gave him a slight nudge with his elbow, "Oh um, Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet ya." He said with a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head.

Jiraiya sighed and the kunoichi merely quirked an eyebrow at the teens response.

"Well, anyway, the Raikage is expecting you, so let's get going." She then turned and began walking away, prompting the two Konoha shinobi to fall instep behind her, giving the two guards cheeky grins as they moved by.

"Damn that Yugito," Naruto vaguely heard one of the guards mutter under his breath.

"I hate being bossed about by that monster," the other cursed.

The blond's brow furrowed as he drew his eyes from the two shinobi and back to the woman walking in front of them, noticing as her shoulders tensed slightly at the comment before relaxing.

Thinking the ordeal strange he began to wodner why two shinobi would call their comrade a monster. Maybe she had a notorious reputation? Narrowing his eyes slightly he noticed something felt familiar about her, she had a certain presence that he'd felt before, but couldn't quite place.

Absentmindedly, he realised they were now walking up a long set of stairs which seemed to lead up to one of the walkways that were laced around the village, being suspended among small mountainous peaks. Drawing his eyes from the rocky landscape, his gaze landed back on the kunoichi leading them a few stairs ahead. He began thinking back to when else he'd felt this feeling. It had definitely been during his time as a shinobi, maybe around the chunin exams…

Then, as if the pieces came together by some natural force it clicked. Gaara! He'd felt this feeling before when he had barged into Lee's room that first time and found him standing over the bed prone genin.

' _She's a jinchuriki…_ ' he thought to himself, ' _that's why she feels so familiar, and why those guards said those things_ ' his eyes widened as he watched the woman climb the stairs, she was like him.

"I know what you're thinking brat," Jiraiya said gravely in a quiet voice, bending slightly as they walked.

"You noticed too?" Naruto replied, his voice equally as serious.

The older man nodded in response before blushing and clasping his hands together over his chest, "She's got one mighty fine ass!"

"Ero-sannin!" the blond hushed, as a faint red hue crept across his cheeks, his eyes unwillingly drawn to the woman's behind as she climbed the stairs.

In front, Yugito felt a slight tug at her lips as she sighed softly. Men.

* * *

The, Raikage, as it turns out, was one scary looking dude. His light blond hair was scraped back behind his ears reaching the bottom of his neck and thick muscles bugled behind his dark skin. He wore a white open haori with no shirt underneath showing a golden belt engraved with a boar.

"So? What is it you want?" A grunted. He had a deep booming voice that demanded respect and carried an unquestionable authoritative tone. Naruto wasn't scared of him. He definitely, was not scared of him.

"We've come to offer information with regards to the Akatsuki A-sama," Jiraiya replied politely earning an impressed glance from the young blond.

"The Akatsuki?" A echoed, looking up from the paper work at his desk, the weight in hand stopping mid lift, "The Akatsuki is not a concern." He looked back down and continued lifting the weight.

"Oh, so you're not concerned about Yugito-san here or your brother's safety?" His arm stopped again, "surely you realise the threat they pose?"

A dropped the weight on the floor and narrowed his eyes at the Sannin, "Look here Konoha-dog, we can manage our jinchuriki just fine." Jiraiya raised his eyebrows in response, his neutral façade never dropping.

"I'm not doubting your competence A-sama, I merely suggesting that when the Akatsuki do come, which they will, it is better to use known information, to prepare for any inevitable attacks, and minimise damages, both to your shinobi and the village itself."

The Raikage looked at the Jiraiya long and hard before leaning back in his chair placing one arm over the back and letting the other rest on the desk. His haori had slid down slightly on one arm revealing the top of a large golden gauntlet.

"So, what's your price? I doubt you're willing to share this information for free." He grumbled, fingers beating against the wooden surface one after another.

Jiraiya grinned a knowing grin, "well we won't ask for much, since getting rid of the Akatsuki is a mutual interest after all."

"Yes yes, I get it," A said with a wave of his hand, "just name your price."

"All I ask is for one of your, more accomplished shinobi, to train my apprentice here in some kenjutsu. Since your village is known for being well versed in the art." Jiraiya replied smoothly.

The Raikage frowned at the offer, the creases on his forehead deepening and his eyes hardening, "You wish to exchange some information, possibly meaningless information, for my village's secrets in kenjutsu?"

"Now, now A-sama, I never said anything about revealing your own kenjustu techniques," Jiraiya laughed lightly, "My apprentice has acquired some family techniques and wishes to train in them, however without an adequate sensei, he feels he would not do them justice. All I ask is for some tutoring and potentially a sparring partner so that he can develop enough skill to take matters into his own hands." The man paused momentarily, considering the Sage's words.

"Is this true?" A directed dark eyes to the blond, causing him to straighten lightly.

"Hai, Raikage-sama" the blond replied quickly, but not rushed nor frantically, ' _damn this guy is intense_ ' he thought to himself.

"Hmm," A stared the Uzumaki down, seemingly judging the teen before sighing "very well."

Now Naruto was really impressed. He'd always known Jiraiya was a shinobi, and a good one at that, but it's hard to take someone seriously when they're off acting like a fool the majority of the time. So seeing his sensei play the Raikage, he felt a small pang of respect blossom for his sensei. He had portrayed the initial offer as though it was completely in his favour, prompting the Raikage to question the deal, before proposing a more reasonable (while still questionable) offer, which in the Raikage's eyes, seemed perfectly logical.

"Yugito?"

"Yes Raikage-sama?"

"Please take, um," the large man looked at the boy, his brow once again furrowing.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto intervened, realising he hadn't introduced himself yet.

A's eyes narrowed at the sound the boys surname as his head moved back towards the kumo kunoichi, his eyes still latched onto the young blond, "Take _Uzumaki_ , to a suitable inn while I discuss matters with Jiraiya."

Naruto frowned internally at the stress placed on his name, "Hai, Raikage-sama," Yugito turned the boy, "Naruto-san?" she proceeded to walk towards the door, the teen hesitantly following after her.

"Raikage-sama!" A voice shouted has as the door the office was knocked on heavily.

"Yes, what is it?" A called, and the door was flung open revealing a tired and sweaty Kumo shinobi. Hanging onto the door handle for support, he bent over to catch his breath. His attire, which consisted of the typical Kumogakure chunin wear, was dirtied and torn in places, his blond hair was matted and sticking to his face.

"A village…" he managed between breaths, "the patrol, and the village… they're gone."

"What nonsense is this about a village? Spit it out boy!" the Raikage shouted standing up.

"Destroyed…" the man spluttered out, his hand still latched onto the office door handle, "No survivors."

Only then did Naruto notice the faint sprays of blood that covered the man's trouser legs. A small thread of fear wormed its way into the boys mind as he watched the man attempt to speak.

"A village destroyed?" the Raikage questioned, a single eyebrow twitching into what seemed like a cross between confusion and worry. "What village was destroyed?"

At this point the chunin had regained his breath and now stood, panting lightly, "Goji village sir," he wheezed gravely, "It's been destroyed."

Naruto's mind went blank. He didn't hear the sudden bark of the Raikage's orders or the sound of rushing footsteps or Jiraiya calling his name.

Goji village.

One foot suddenly planted itself in front of the other, as he ghosted his way out the Raikage's office.

Destroyed.

His steps became quicker as he broke into a run, ignoring the attempts of the old man to stop him and the shouts of people he barged by.

No survivors.

His jog became a sprint as the unfamiliar scenery of the village hidden in the clouds blurred past him.

Popo.

The guards at the gate were thrown to the side by dark orange chains as he crashed his way through the small door in the large front gate.

Aomaru.

The rocky mountains and the cloudy blanket that covered the sky were morphed into streaks of brown and white as he plummeted down the mountainous path.

Mimi.

The blue sky that had appeared overhead had now began to darken as night consumed the day. He wasn't sure how long he had been going for. Nor did he care. Tree branches burst underfoot has he powered his way through the light tropical forestry that bordered the mountain terrain and the lush countryside.

He paused on a thick branch at the edge of the forest. He could see it. In the far distance. The small licks of flames the pierced the night sky. The dark plumes of smoke blackening the velvet blue night. His nostrils stung as the wind blew in his direction, disturbing the leaves in the trees. It smelt like death.

He pushed on. Mind still blank and limbs heavy, the village seemed to be getting further away the more he ran. The faster he went. Until it was upon him.

Suddenly the smell seemed so much worse. It stung both his eyes and nose.

Houses lay in ruin, the charred foundations still smouldering. Soft wails lingered in the air. He wasn't sure whether it was the wind or survivors or the grieving.

Hesitantly, he moved forward.

Bodies lay scattered on the burnt ground. Some still burning, some blackened, some bloodied and cold.

He kept going, ignoring the sense of dread that lingered at the back of his mind, the bile that rose to the back of his mouth, the smell that stabbed at his nostrils and the smoke that stung at his eyes.

Never before had he been surrounded by so much death. It was everywhere.

He approached the square that sat in the centre of the village, it's once smooth, paved ground upheaved and soaked a dark red. Little embers lifted into the sky like firery fireflies and smoke wafted in the wind. Stalls and stands stood stripped bare either burning or in heap. The bodies were more numerous now. He stepped around the charred remains of an old man, the same old man he'd seen selling fresh fruit not long ago. But, the old man was not on his mind, nor was the lady that sold various fabrics or the retired veteran who cooked homemade dango.

He stood frozen. The fear that was once but a lingering sensation blossomed into an uncontrollable fear, an overwhelming torrent of despair, consuming every part of him.

There, within the smouldering embers and the up torn gravel, lay the small forms of three still bodies, their limbs laying over one another in a protective lifelessness, and amidst the cackle of the soaring flames and the soft whimper of the wind, a single tear fell onto the burnt earth, filled with an indiscernible sorrow of loss.

* * *

And done! if you got any question about the chapter i'd be happy to answer em!

I should be uploading a lot sooner than last time, i'm on a summer break now so got a lot of time on my hands between work

Thanks for readin and dont forget to review, fave and follow if you're feeling it!


	8. Chapter 8

Yo! Back out with another chapter!

Sorry for the last chapter i know it was a bit much but i thought it was necessary for Narutos character developed.

Thank you to all those who reviewed, favourited and followed! All criticism has been noted and appreciated (To an extent)

Enjoy!

* * *

Light rain tapped against glass as Naruto sat unmoving by the windowsill. His hair un-kept and hanging loosely between his shoulder blades.

The last week had not been his finest. In fact, he couldn't even remember the following few days after the incident. It was all a blur. A hazy nightmare one normally wakes up from sweating, heart beating rapidly. But it wasn't a dream. It was real. Too real. He could still see it. Hear it. Smell it.

He closed his eyes as his face contorted painfully, a grimace forming. Opening them he focused his gaze on the streaks of raindrops that weaved their way down the paned glass.

Reaching to his right, the blond brought a cup of sake to his lips and swallowed it whole. Savouring the warm burn on the back of his throat. Not that he could get drunk. But that warmth, that fleeting burning sensation was a distraction. And a distraction was what he needed.

A soft knock on the door broke Naruto out of his musings and after a quiet call to enter the door slid open.

"Hey kid, how you holding up?" JIraiya stepped into the room, eyes glancing down at the near empty sake bottle.

"How'd you think?" Naruto retorted, his eyes like ice as they locked onto the older man's own before facing back to the mountain rain.

A short silence followed when neither said anything, Jiraiya stood unsure of what to say or do so simply did nothing.

"Well, just checking you're doing ok." He said, before hesitantly making his way back towards the door.

"Wait," Naruto called softly. Jiraiya stopped and looked back at his godson, "I'm sorry, it's just…"

"I know kid, I know," He moved back into the room, sitting down on a cushion at a table in the centre of the room and poured himself a cup of sake, "you really shouldn't drink so much of this stuff you know, it'll be the death of ya."

"I think being a ninja will be the death of me," the blond replied, a twinge of humour lacing his low tone, "besides, a certain fox makes sure any toxic substances that enter my body are destroyed so, all I can get is the taste, not the feeling… or the liver issues."

The older man let out a quiet hearty laugh, "I don't know whether that's a gift or a burden, but I guess you could beat anyone in a drinking contest, even Gamabunta." He raised the cup to his mouth and took a small sip, "Kumo always did make good sake." He mumbled mostly to himself.

Naruto let a ghost of a smile tug at his lips as he watched his godfather, "I think it's a bit of both."

"Huh?" The sage questioned as he looked up from his cup.

"You said you didn't know whether it was a gift or a burden, I think it's a bit of both." Jiraiya gazed at the teen with an inquisitive look, prompting him to continue, "A lot of my life has been shit, mostly due to the Kyuubi and people thinking of me as some sort of demon or monster, and that takes its toll… it _has_ taken its toll," he looked out the window and sucked in a breath. Deep within his mindscape, a large lone eye opened slowly "but at the same time, I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for the experiences I've had, the things I've seen... and I guess, even if the fox is a stubborn mean bastard, he's always been there, so I've never really been alone at all."

Jiraiya smiled fondly at his student, "I've never thought of it like that," he said.

Naruto simply looked back at him with a soft grin of his own, "I guess no one but me and the fox can."

Way down in the sewers of the blond's own mind, the single open eye closed slowly, and a sharp toothy grin revealed itself in the dark gloom.

" **Damn human brat**."

* * *

"Wait so why do we have to train this Konoha brat again?"

A vein on Naruto's forehead began throbbing painfully as he tried his best to keep a neutral façade. He'd just been introduced to the team that were going to be helping him with his kenjustu and they weren't happy about it to say the least.

"Because we made an exchange of sorts with Konoha and this is their end of the bargain," A gave the red haired teen a stern look, "and because I told you so."

"But what if Karui falls in love with him and kidnaps the guy which causes Konoha to invade initiating another ninja war?" Karui turned on the boy with short cropped white spiky hair with fire in her eyes.

"Shut up Omoi, like that would ever happen." She huffed and crossed her arms

"Actually, out of all the ridiculous delusions Omoi-san conjures, I think this one is fairly plausible," The pale blond girl said before turning to the Raikage, "I think it is worth considering, Raikage-sama."

"What! You too Samui?" The red-haired girl protested, her hair seemingly coming alive

"That's enough! You are to train Uzumaki here no questions asked, do you understand?" the man roared, his grip on the table causing the wood to creek.

"Hai hai Raikage-sama" Karui muttered dismissively causing the man to slam his hands on the table in anger.

"It shall be done Raikage-sama, we will train with Uzumaki-san," Samui interrupted, her voice smooth, cold and neutral, effectively diffusing the situation.

"Good, now be gone, you're all just as insufferable as my brother," the man said looking back down at his paperwork.

"Uzumaki-san, meet us at training ground three at 9 tomorrow, don't be late." Samui said as she turned to the blond before strolling out the room. Karui and Omoi followed her, the latter sending Naruto a glare that could stop any ninja in his tracks and the former with a lackadaisical grin.

"Are they always like that?" Naruto asked curiously as the team left the office.

"Yes," The Raikage replied as he looked up from his notes before looking back down. Naruto inwardly groaned, he wasn't looking forward to dealing with a team that seemed to have an even stranger dynamic that team 7.

He noticed after a short while the A was staring at him, an odd cross between confusion and anger across his face.

"You still here?"

* * *

Training ground three was an open rocky plain that stood atop a levelled mountain peak about a ten minute walk from the village centre. Slowly trudging up uneven steps, Naruto sighed to himself and observed the surrounding scenery. White clouds pretty much as far as the eye could see. Not that it was a bad view, in fact he found it quite peaceful.

"Oh, there he is," Omoi commented has he shifted the lollipop to the other side of his mouth.

"You! What the hell took you so long it's nearly 12?" Karui shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the blond as he climbed the final stair and stood staring neutrally.

He blinked slowly, "I was walking through the village and had to keep stopping to admire the scenery, the view is really something, isn't it?" he shoved his hands into his pockets and approached the team.

"Well, you're not wrong there! Kumo is better than your shitty leaf anyway…" the firery haired girl admitted nodding sagely, "Wait! That's still not an excuse, you're still late!" her anger re-ignited as her eyes narrowed.

Naruto rose an eyebrow but decided not to respond, instead turning to the blond-haired kunoichi who had been observing quietly, "So, how does this work?"

"Hey, don't ignore me!"

"First, I'll have you spar against members of the team using kenjutsu only so we can judge your skill level," she replied swiftly.

"Bet he has no skill to judge," Naruto sent a quick annoyed glare the girl's way before returning to the blond, who didn't seem fazed.

"Next, we'll take a look at the techniques you've acquired and attempt to decipher them, then once that's completed, you'll simply have to practice your katas until they feel natural." Samui looked at the blond with a tilt of the head, her shoulder length her bobbing to the side, "You understand?"

"Err, yeah?" Naruto asked, slightly confused by the succinct description.

"Cool," The blond kunoichi turned to look at her female teammate, "Karui-san, you spar with him first."

"Yes! I was hoping I'd get to go first! I'm looking forward to wiping that look off your face Uzumaki!" She challenged as she squared up to him, drawing her katana from its blood red sheath and holding it out in front of her.

Naruto copied the action except held his Katana, which was slightly shorter than Karui's, in a reverse grip across his torso.

"You call that a stance," The girl laughed heartily as she raised an eyebrow, observing the blond's form, "Samui I'm not sure I should go against the guy, I might kill him!"

"Why don't you put your money where your mouth is then, tomato-san," Naruto quipped, a sly grin stretching across his lips.

"What did you call me?" Karui replied darkly, her white banana shadowing her golden eyes.

"Did I say something wrong?" Naruto tilted his head innocently, "Tomato-chan?"

"Uh oh."

"This isn't gonna be cool."

"You're dead Uzumaki!" The kunoichi raged as she charged forward, katana raised above her.

Naruto was surprised by the speed at which she charged and fumbled back, parrying weakly against the arching strike. Not giving him a moment to recuperate, Karui shifted the katana in her hands to the side and struck horizontally across the teen's chest.

Naruto ducked under the sweeping blow before rolling to side, only to look up to see the a katana inches from his face rising up in an upwards slash.

Quickly, he yanked his head to the side however didn't manage to escape without a small cut to his cheek that ran through his whisker marks.

Omoi whistled, "Damn she's really going for it," He commented.

Samui simply watched on with observing eyes.

The Uzumaki withheld a snarl as he watched the smirking Karui saunter around him with her sword poised in front of her. He was outclassed. They'd only exchanged a few blows but he was already aware that her talent in kenjutsu far outweighed is own. However, what he did have was power, and his speed.

Charging his legs with chakra, the blond smirked before shooting towards the girl sending a plume of dust into the air behind him.

Karui's eyes widened as a blond blur appeared by her side and she swiftly brought her katana up to meet the gleaming metal that swung down.

After his strike was blocked, the blond jumped back before going on the attack again, this time appearing low and in front of the Kumo kunoichi, slashing horizontally at her legs.

Karui hopped backwards, avoiding the slash while striking diagonally as she retreated, catching Naruto on the shoulder.

Unflinching, Naruto continued this method of using his superior speed in order to fluster the kenjutsu practitioner. Karui however continued to use her adept skills to deflect and counter the blond's chaotic attacks.

To the untrained eye, it looked like a barrage of yellow blurs and sweeping metallic slashes appearing at every angle around the kunoichi, who in turn seemed to be on her back foot. What Samui and Omoi saw however, was Karui, while barely being able to keep up with Naruto's intense speed, skilfully deflecting his attacks and in return, peppering the Uzumaki with small cuts. His speed allowing him to evade the full brunt of the counters.

"He's doing surprisingly well… for someone who knows near nothing of kenjutsu," Omoi said pointedly.

"I don't know whether it's cool, or idiotic," Samui replied, causing Omoi to give the blond a curious glance.

Back with the fight, Naruto had paused in the middle of the field.

"What's the matter brat? Out of breath?" Karui asked, a shit-eating grin on her face.

The blond laughed in response, "You serious? You obviously don't know me very well of you think I'm already tired." Karui frowned as she noticed the blond was indeed not even panting lightly.

"Well you've sure looked better, with all those cuts," her grin returned with full abandon,

"What cuts?" Naruto asked innocently, looking at his arms. His robes were in tatters but the cuts which were once thin red lines were now nothing but faint pink marks that marred his tanned skin.

"What!? I could have sworn I slashed you up all over! Where's all the blood?" Karui shouted, lowering her sword slightly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Naruto replied casually, looking to the side, "Tomato-chan."

"That's it! You're dead whiskers!" Karui retorted causing the boy to frown slightly, but he said nothing.

"Alright, I've seen enough." Samui interrupted from the side lines, her arms crossed under her large bust.

"Samui? I had him, this guy ain't shit!" Karui protested.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I don't think you did 'have him'" The blond kunoichi began calmly.

"Whaddya mean! Course I did!"

"Karui." Samui cut in sharply, "Look at Uzumaki-san," She then nodded towards the other blond, "He doesn't look worn at all, no doubt he could go on for a lot longer. Additionally, he seems to possess advanced healing. No doubt you are far more advanced than him in terms of kenjutsu, however he would simply outlast you if it came down to it.

Karui opened her mouth to retort but closed it quickly, deciding to huff loudly instead while turning her chin up at the blond.

Naruto scoffed, "Seems like all that was just talk huh?" He taunted.

"I wouldn't be so quick to judge Uzumaki-san," Samui turned to the teen, "You're kenjutsu is sloppy, chaotic and clumsy," Naruto frowned, "And that's a compliment," Karui smirked, "If Karui-san here had been using any of her potentially maiming or lethal techniques, I assure you, you'd be in a lot worse state than you are now."

"Oh really?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at the redhead, "You ever consider that I may now some techniques like that too?"

Samui gave him a dead stare, "Of course you do Uzumaki-san, we're ninja, we all do. But that's beside the point."

"Well what is the point?"

"The point is your kenjutsu sucks." Omoi helpfully intervened.

"Thank you, Omoi. That is indeed the point." The corner of Samui's mouth tugged upwards as a hint of mirth appeared in her eyes before it disappeared as quickly as it came, "Now let's take a break, we'll meet back here at two to begin your training."

Naruto sheathed his sword and shoved his hands into his pockets before walking away towards the stairway.

"Oh and Uzuamki-san," Samui called after him, causing the boy to stop mid-step, "Try not to be late this time."

* * *

"Aren't you a little young to be sat at a bar kid?" Naruto looked up from his cup to see the same kunoichi who had met him at the village gates. Yugito if he recalled.

"Really? I'm a ninja aren't I?" Yugito smiled a small smile as she rose an eyebrow.

"I'm glad you didn't give me that 'old enough to kill, old enough to drink' line. Gets old after a while."

"How many young shinobi you talking to in bars?"

"Enough," She looked around and noticed the looks being sent their way, and looked down at the blond who appeared to be oblivious. However his obliviousness was mere tolerance. You live with something for your whole life, you get used to it.

"Let's get out of here kid, these bars are too sad and lonely for a young guy like you," Naruto looked at her inquisitively, "I didn't approach you because you were drinking."

Naruto nodded almost to himself before finishing his drink and placing some coins on the counter. He let Yugito lead him out of the bar and they began a slow walk into what appeared to be a more residential area of Kumo.

"I thought Kumo was more of a militarised village." Naruto commented as he observed elderly citizens sat playing cards and heard kids playing in backyards.

"It is," the kunoichi replied, "But they still have families, and once we've retired, they don't exactly kick us out the village,"

He bobbed his head in response, ignoring her us of 'they' instead of 'we'.

He knew why.

"Wait, where are we going?" He asked after the pair turned down a small alleyway.

On either side of the tiny street stood rickety wooden houses. The ground covered by old cracked cobbled stone. Potted plants sat at every other door and the soft misty cloud combined with smell of damp wood gave the path a homely chill.

"My safe haven," She replied as she stopped and entered through an inconspicuous doorway consisting of a simple shoji. Hanging overhead was a sign consisting of a plain plank of wood displaying the word 'Murasaki's' in white paint.

Naruto followed the kunoichi through the open door and stepped into the building, sliding the door shut behind him. The inside consisted of plain planked wooden walls which looked worn with age. Paintings of cloudy mountains and photographs of various shinobi hung from nails and a cloak rack stood next to the doorway. In the centre of the small room was a U-shaped oak counter, the middle open and stretching further into another room which looked like a kitchen. Stools were placed around the counter which was decorated with cups filled with chopsticks and soy sauce vials.

"A sushi bar?" he said, mostly to himself as he looked at the blond.

"Not 'a' sushi bar," the woman grinned, a rare hearty grin, " _the_ sushi bar."

"You got that right Yugito-chan!" A deep, smoky voice laughed as a man came walking out from the kitchen wiping his hands on a rag hung over his shoulder, his white apron dirtied and a cigarette placed loosely between his lips. He wore a stern, wrinkled face with sharp knowing eyes that showed years of hardened experience yet an unrelenting kindness.

Naruto decided immediately that he liked this man.

"So, who's the Leaf brat?" he asked, nodding in Naruto's direction.

"Ah he's Jiraiya of the Sannin's apprentice. The Raikage struck some deal with Konoha and now he's getting kenjutsu tutoring." She replied as she stepped up the small step that surrounded the doorway and sat on a stool at the front of the counter.

"Jiriaya of the Sannin aye? That shits the real deal!" The man whistled as he took his cigarette from his mouth, his sharp black eyes landing on the boy, "Kid doesn't look like much though."

"Yeah well neither do you old man, what sorta chef smokes in his own restaurant anyway?" Naruto quipped, not impressed by the constant referral to himself as a 'kid'.

The man leant his head back and laughed loudly, "Ah Yugito-chan I like this kid!" he took a drag and looked back at the blond, pointing two cigarette filled fingers at him, "But this place ain't a restaurant, and I ain't no chef." He exhaled the smoke out of the corner of his mouth.

"Alright alright ojii-san, don't tease the boy too much," Yugito scolded lightly as she reached behind the counter and grabbed herself a bottle of sake and two cups. She placed them down on the wooden surface and looked round at Naruto, still standing in the doorway, an unsure look on his face, "well don't just stand there, come sit down."

Naruto placed himself next to Yugito and watched as she poured two drinks and pushed one in his direction.

She brought the liquid to her lips but paused midway as she noticed the blond's curious stare, "What?" she asked as she swiftly downed the drink and poured herself another.

The old man went back into the kitchen and the sound of chopping echoed through the room, joining the chorus of boiling pots and a burning stove.

"Nothing," he said, before he finished his drink in one gulp also.

The sake was strong and left a sweet but burning sensation that lingered at the back of his throat. The feeling that spread throughout his chest was warm and inviting and lasted longer than that of the sake from the bar and the inn.

He liked this sake a lot more.

"The feeling doesn't last long, but it lasts longer than your standard stuff." Yugito commented glancing Naruto's way out of the corner of her eye, her newly filled cup poised in front of her mouth, "With your standard sake, the feeling is gone pretty much as soon as it the back of your throat. But with this stuff, well it lasts just that little bit longer," She finished her second cup and placed it on the table with a sigh.

The old man, who could be seen chopping at his station, sent the pair a knowing glance before returning to his cooking.

"Is this how you cope?" Naruto asked, staring into his reflection in the clear liquid.

"Cope with what?"

He shrugged, "the stares, the comments," he looked her in the eye, "you know what I mean,"

The kunoichi sighed again and even though she was still young, there in the dim light of the small sushi bar, the lines on her face seemed more pronounced than ever and the weight in her eyes ten times as heavy.

"Well there is no such thing as coping," she replied, tracing her finger around the rim of her cup, "Every day I wake up I'm coping. Every time I manage to sleep I'm coping. To cope is to live. And to live is to cope," She looked at the blond who quickly averted his eyes, "You understand?"

"Not really," he laughed in spite of himself, "but I think I get the point."

A short silence followed as both sat in a quiet contentment, nursing their drinks and watching the old man who wasn't a chef rush about his kitchen in his place that wasn't a restaurant.

"So what's the deal with you and the old man?" Naruto looked up at the older blond.

"Oji-san? We've been acquainted for some time now" She smiled and leant on the counter, resting her cheek in the palm of her hand.

"Oh Yugito-chan don't be so cold! This one's been coming here since she was just a snot-nosed brat with a foul mouth and the sense of humour of a brick wall!" The old man shouted over his cooking, before letting out a throaty laugh.

"Just keep to yourself you senile old crone!" She barked back before looking at the boy, "He's always treated me well." She paused for a moment, "You have someone like that in the leaf?"

Naruto nodded, smiling, "yeah… Teuchi oji-san and Ayame nee-chan." His eyes drifted to the photographs of grinning shinobi holding up cups of drink at the counter that decorated the walls, "I used to have jiji but, he's gone now."

"How'd he pass?" a bitter look crossed Naruto's face.

"Betrayed by one of his students," Yugito frowned, that was no way to go, even for a ninja, "Fucking snake,"

"Snake?" she asked curiously.

"Orochimaru." Naruto said the name as though the letters were acid in his mouth.

"Your grandfather was the Sandaime Hokage?" Yugito asked her eyebrows raised comically.

The old man looked over from his cooking in interest.

Naruto allowed himself a small grin, "No," He said, "I was alone growing up and when I got kicked out of the orphanage jiji got me my own apartment and gave me an allowance so I could take care of myself." He sighed, "Sometimes he would come round to visit and we would go out for ramen. And whenever I barged into his office or pulled pranks he never got angry."

"He doesn't sound like the feared God of shinobi that we were taught could destroy a whole army singlehandedly." She mentioned offhandedly.

"I don't know about that. To me he was just the nice old man that visited now and again and gave me money for food. He wasn't just the Hokage you know?"

"Yeah," Yugito breathed as the old man who wasn't a chef went back to his cooking, "Wait, how old were you when you were kicked out of the orphanage?" she asked tentatively.

"Dunno, like six?"

"Six!" She echoed.

"Yeah, they didn't like me very much…" He said with a sheepish grin which seemed false and unconvincing.

"That's… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked," She muttered as she topped up Naruto and her cups.

"It okay, I guess."

"Alright kids enough with the mopping! Grubs up!" the old man announced as he placed a large tray on the counter with plethora of sushi along with miso soup, steamed rice and a large salt-grilled sea bream.

The man pulled out a stool from the side of the counter and sat down heavily. Then grabbing a cup, he poured himself a drink, snapped apart a pair of chopsticks and began eating.

Yugito, who had already begun, paused, her chopsticks ensnaring a piece of sashimi inches from her face, "What's up kid, you not gonna eat?"

Naruto froze for a moment, watching the other two as they eyed him curiously. Then, grinning mostly to himself, he plucked a piece of salmon maki from the tray, dipped it in soy, dropped it into his mouth, and chewed enthusiastically savouring the taste.

It was no Ichiraku ramen, but it was good. Damn good.

* * *

"What a surprise, you're late… again!" Karui commented dryly as she watched the blond approach the team with a blank expression, hands in his pockets.

"I must say Uzumaki-san, your affinity to tardiness is very uncool." Samui said, her eyes showing a hint of annoyance.

"Yeah I'm sorry, I went out for sushi and then got lost…" he replied with a shrug.

"Well at least that's a reasonably valid excuse," The redhead sighed.

"… On the road to life."

"Oh for the love of-" Karui threw her hands up in exasperation.

"How uncool."

"I like this guy." Omoi commented amiably causing Naruto to grin at the boy giving him a nod.

Both his female teammates turned on him varying degrees of annoyance.

"What? He's got a whole thing." He shrugged.

"It's not even really my thing." The blond butted in as he stood in front of the team.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Karui asked.

"Well it's my sensei's thing, I'm just copyin' it." He replied plainly.

Karui looked at him disbelievingly, "Why would you do that?"

"Cause it's fun."

"Cause it's fun?"

"And to annoy you."

"Ugh I'm gonna kill you one day whiskers."

"You can try, I'll even give you the first hit," He paused and looked at her dead in the eyes, "Tomato-chan."

A fire lit in her eyes as her hands clenched into fists.

"Alright that's enough flirting you two." A voice called from behind the group causing the redhead to frown and the blond to raise an eyebrow.

Naruto turned on his heels and saw a tired looking Yugito walking towards them, "Oh Yugito, what're you doing here?"

The older lady shrugged, "My mission got cancelled so I thought I'd check what the resident dog is up to."

The cloud shinobi laughed at Naruto's expense, Karui seemed to be especially enjoy the jab.

"Wait, how'd you know Yugito?" Omoi asked as he looked at the blond.

"We met in a bar."

"A bar?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, maybe you and Karui could go to a bar sometime? She loves bars." He added thoughtfully.

"Nah, I'm okay." Naruto replied dismissively.

"Wha- Omoi!" Karui punched her teammate in the shoulder, "And you, I wouldn't wanna go with you anyway."

"Although if you two do go together…" Omoi continued in a world to himself.

"We wouldn't!"

"Nah I'm okay thanks."

"… Then my theory of Karui falling in love and abducting Naruto will become plausible… and a fourth shinobi world war could in fact be triggered."

A silence followed as they all stared at the shaggy haired boy who simply moved his lollipop to the other side of his mouth in response.

"Anyway, what do you have planned for Naruto here?" Yugito asked, attempting to steer the conversation in a less hostile direction

Samui seemed to step forward at this point, "Well we were going to look over some of Uzumaki-san's techniques and instruct him on how to perform some of the katas correctly."

"Umm," Naruto mumbled while raising his hand slightly, in a futile attempt to get the groups attention, "I don't wanna be difficult but, these techniques that I'm trying to learn aren't just some random generic forms I found on the side of the street. Their techniques from my clan." Karui rolled her eyes at this point, having being used to dealing with pompous clan members before, "Even though I don't have any clan members, well, that I know of anyway, I don't want anyone else learning them… if that's okay."

They all stared at them him dumbly.

Karui felt a twinge of regret at the harsh thoughts she had held towards the blond just because he was from a clan.

Omoi tilted stared thoughtfully, Samui stoicially, and Yugito gave a sympathetic smile.

"Well shit whiskers," Karui spoke up, eager to break the ice, "That really complicates things, you know?"

Samui frowned as she searched for a solution. She did afterall respect the boy's wishes for his clan techniques to be kept a secret.

"I have a solution," Yugito intervened, her face resolved with a faint smile on her lips, "Why don't we leave Naruto to look over his techniques and katas for the rest of the day. Then tomorrow, he'll perform them and team Samui will offer alterations and improvements that can be made to his form. He will then take another day off to apply any suggestions then reconvene once again and vice versa," She looked at the group in their eyes one at a time to approve they were following, "It's not the easiest method but I think it's the best given the circumstances."

A plethora of shrugs and nods came from the group and Yugito smiled in confirmation.

"It's settled then," She then turned on her heels and began strolling away.

"Wait, Yugito where're you going?" Karui shouted after her.

"Sushi." She called over her shoulder.

"We just got sushi." Naruto stated after her however she merely waved a hand in response before dissappearing in a cackle of electricity.

"You went for sushi with Yugito-sempai?" Samui suddenly asked.

"Yeah…"

"What was it like?" She questioned quickly.

Naruto paused, unsure of what to say and flustered by the normally stoic girls sudden interest, "Cool?"

The blond nodded in affirmation, "Yes, Yugito-sempai is very cool."

"Right, enough fangirling." Karui grunted as she wrapped an arm around Samui's shoulders, "We're off whiskers, have fun failing at your katas!" She grinned over her shoulder.

Omoi trailed after the pair lazily, "See ya Naruto."

The Uzumaki watched as the group reached the mountainous stairs before Karui unhooked her arm and turned to look at the blond, "Oh and whiskers, don't go into the mountains over there." She pointed at the large mountain range that stood wide in the near distance.

"Why?" He asked, more to satisfy the girl than due to his own curiosity.

"Because a monster lives there," She replied dramatically with a smirk before laughing loudly and walking down the steps.

Naruto stood by himself and took a moment to enjoy being alone. It was quite ironic really. The once attention starved kid who wanted nothing more than to be constantly surrounded by people just wanted to be left alone.

The change wasn't in the fact that he didn't want to be around people, more so that he found it difficult interacting with them. His sure and certain approach to socialising had been shattered and he found himself lost in a strange mid-way point between a brooding Sasuke and a teen Naruto.

He ran a hand through his spiky blond hair and gazed over the mountain Karui had warned him to stay away from.

For a second, he considered heeding the girl's words, however his curiosity got the better of him and he decided to go there anyway.

"She was basically telling me to go there…" He muttered, as if convincing himself he was justified in doing so.

When he reached the edge of the training grounds, the blond realised he would have to jump from peak to peak in order to delve further in to the maze of rocky pillars. Each standing individually, the formations were dotted with patches of foliage and stretched down through the blanket of clouds.

Pumping chakra into his legs, he launched himself onto the nearest one grinning to himself as he felt the wind billow through his hair and whip at his clothes.

Upon landing, he used his hands as well as his feet in order to stick to the side of the mountainous rock before coiling his muscles and jumping again, leaving a dent in the hard surface.

Using this method, Naruto continued to jump from peak to peak until he saw one that stood above the others. In front of the formation was a flattened, circular area with stairs leading up to it and then stairs ascending further up the mountain.

With one final, powerful jump, he managed to land near the top of the stairs, breaking a few in the process.

'Well that wasn't easy.' He thought to himself as he dusted his clothes down.

Turns out the distance between the spikes were farther that he'd initially thought and it had taken a lot of chakra to fuel the jumps in between.

Looking around, he noticed the stairway had a gold trim at either side, giving it the feeling of a temple and Naruto momentarily wondered whether he was trespassing on holy ground.

He shrugged non-committedly. It didn't matter either way.

Hesitantly, he began climbing the white rock steps. After a short while, he reached the first mid platform and admired the enormity of it. His gaze however was drawn suddenly to a figure that sat perched in the middle of the arena in front of the second stairway.

Walking closer, Naruto noticed the man was sat in a meditative pose. His legs crossed and arms placed between them, one hand lying flat on top of the other both face up. He wore dark round glasses and his hair was white and pulled back into cornrows.

As the blond approached him, the man's lips twisted into a grin and he slowly got to his feet giving Naruto a clear view of the many swords that were strapped to his back.

Standing way taller than the teen, the man remained still as the he walked within ten meters distance.

Naruto could feel the power emanating from the guy. It was overwhelming, and felt dauntingly familiar. In fact, it was so familiar he instantly recognised it. This man was a jinchuriki. A powerful one at that. He was on another level to Gaara, himself and even Yugito.

Naruto knew this man could kill him if he so pleased.

A long second passed where neither party said nor did anything. Naruto saw the man's hands twitch and brought his own to his sword and took a cautious half step back.

That long, tense moment was instantly shattered however as the man grinned, opened his mouth and brought his hands in front of him in a strange display of gestures.

"Yo yo yo! Well if it ain't Mr. Nine?

Bee's the name and I'm feeling fine.

I've been waiting,

Situating

Contemplating

Ever since you and Two was dating

In ma gut, I got the Hachibi

An if you got beef then might as well leave!"

He pushed up his glasses up with his index finger and left his right hand outstretched, fingers frozen in a strange contorted pose.

Another silence followed as the wind blew between the pair picking up dust from the rocky platform and Naruto groaned inwardly as his guard dropped.

Why were all cloud ninja so weird?

* * *

Yo thanks for readin'

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